Author: Javaminx

Dangerous Waters

Posted on by Javaminx

I have been quite silent since my first post- mainly because, as a mother of three, it was pretty optimistic of me to think I could add a blog to my already overflowing plate of things to do. But also because I became hyper aware that the public out and about are not always kind. That was something I worried about and so was paralyzed to write anything for a very long while as reality escalated to the most amazing heights of sheer insanity with politics and then the COVID pandemic. But I cannot be silent any longer no matter what the “public” has to say about what I write. Recent events in the Capitol during what should have been a truly boring and mundane official electoral vote count demand a response- even from a simple citizen on the other side of the country from what happened.

We are in dangerous waters now. We must call a spade and a spade and not sugarcoat what has happened. Insurrection and protests are two very different beasts. Make no mistake- actions and decisions made surrounding this insurrection will have repercussions for many years to come. We will need to be ever vigilant to defend our democracy against people who are too afraid to admit how fragile our American experiment really is, and those who would take advantage of that fact. There must be very public, very definite and very heavy consequences for all the insurrectionists- whether they be a part of our current government or are simply citizens of it. Words have weight as much as flagpoles. There is death and blood on these people’s hands whether it can be seen or not and the rest of us cannot shy away from naming the enemy among us and bringing it to heel.

Deepest Darkest “The Boys’ Room”

Posted on by Javaminx

Day 1

This past year has often found me pondering an expedition to that Bermuda Triangle of the modern family home- The Boys’ Room. It has been an uphill battle to acquire energy and fortitude in the face of such a daunting and exhausting task but I have found faith in the notion that truly- the Gospel of Marie Kondo will go a long way in the lives of the denizens I intend to proselytize to soon.

Today tho has been an exercise in reining in my enthusiasm for just bulldozing the place and instead focusing on the intensely important knowledge to be gained from examining carefully the layers that comprise the environment these somewhat uncomplicated humans find themselves living in day to day. They go about their daily business completely unaware of the many bits and pieces being stepped on, broken, discarded and lost. The archeological dig I have planned, once executed, shall be truly amazing to behold.

After much trial and error in this foreign land I have discovered that stealth is necessary in order to truly discover the complexity that is the sedimentary layers of these citizens of The Boys Room. On cursory inspection, the top layer seems comprised of large containers and papers possibly hiding treasures within or underneath. There is also a mind boggling number of articles of clothing, many of which I have identified as actually unworn clean clothing that never saw the inside of a drawer between the most recent washing and what apparently will be the next washing. I shall have to arm myself- with boxes, baskets, brooms and dustpans.

So much to do to prepare for the first dig! So much to think about when approaching these fragile creatures I find myself interacting with about their belongings…I must find a way to reach them, or lose my sanity beneath the mounds of broken toys, casually drifting discarded worksheets and legos. Oh the legos!

Day 2

Over a morning repast of coffee, Facebook and bacon, I have steeled myself for the inevitable whining from the locals. I have the tools of the trade and fear a mutiny wherein these tools will be spirited to locations unknown in order to prevent my marshaling of forces for the task at hand. And indeed, the cacophony of angry cries in opposition to the inevitable are deafening.

Abruptly out of fucks to give, I lay down the law with threats of no screen time for days, months YEARS even! And finally, FINALLY, my charges buckle under the potential loss of their sedentary privileges and take up arms against the tide of crap clogging their territory.

The dirty clothes bin is overflowing like some limp and smelly fabric volcano, dribbling lone socks and crusty underpants like some demented Hansel and Gretel breadcrumb trail leading the unwary traveler from hamper to pre-teen archeological dig and back again. The paper recycling bin has been emptied multiple times thru out the day as I pretend to make piles of “to keep” worksheets, projects, notes and doodles when in reality I am stuffing them surreptitiously into my pockets and wading out to recycle them one by one. How precious to these simple beings are the detriment of the year- forgotten monsters and lists, precarious pipe cleaners and toilet paper rolls enthusiastically glued to inside out cereal box bases and populating questionably constructed diorama tableaux. Do they raid the dump not 3 miles from their abode?!?! Where does it all come from?!?!

Much discussion ensues regarding why we do not live in layered crap from day to day- but obviously we do from time to time. How we can think about things and enjoy them only then to let them go – to make room for ourselves and for new towers and notes, doodles and collectibles. The sheer number of abandoned plastic soldiers – from the homeland, space, the era of the dinosaurs and every kind of era in between is abominable. If I only had a dollar for every time I hear, ” Oh! I remember this guy! He’s my favorite! We can’t throw/give him away!” I would be a VERY VERY RICH WOMAN…

On the morrow? Under the bed. A part of this small territory i have been dreading all along… there is no knowing what we will be unearthed. I will never personally set foot, crawling like a worm, in that area to fetch a long lost book or mutant moldy apple core. No indeed. But they will draw straws and we will tie a rope about the unlucky winner’s waist and hope for the best!

They won’t know what hit them.

Look out world, I’ve got an itch to start writing… something.

Posted on by Javaminx

Well, hello there! I have to start off with a disclaimer because..trolls. Or at least I think that’s the term for people or bots or organizations or whatever- that choose to comment hellaciously on whatever topic some poor random sod has decided to put out there in an attempt to reach out to humanity. So here it is…

I am not perfect. I do not always agree with you and consequently do not expect you to agree with me all the time. Imagine that! I misspell things, will probably completely mangle traditional grammar rules and am an absolute failure at remembering where I read something, who I heard something from or any sort of provenance of ideas. I will, depending on my mood, energy levels and how many kids are screaming, complaining or breaking things in my vicinity, do my best to link, explain, drop names or otherwise provide some desultory factual info as I can. But hey- you can always comment and I can make that a to-do list item and see what comes of that. I reserve the right to boot you, block you, swear at you, scold you, school you, disagree with you, ignore you, and well… all of that because really? I don’t need anything on my page that isn’t at least a semblance of constructive criticism. I also reserve the right to change this disclaimer whenever the heck I want to! Thpphtppt! SO THERE!

Now that that little item of housekeeping is done…let me say a few things about myself!

I am 47. Born in Washington raised in California after a two year hiatus in Boise, Idaho. I spent my early years in and around Sunnyvale, California, as the Bay Area was evolving into Silicon Valley as we know it today. I went to college at Uof A in Fairbanks, Alaska, met the first husband, who was in the Army, and spent nearly 9 years in the South at 3 different posts, finishing my Art degree with a Biology minor via correspondence courses. ( A correspondence course, for those of you not in the know, is just like an online course only via snail mail – a practice that was prevalent in Alaska for forever before the internet was even a dream of a dream.)

Eventually that lovely life adventure devolved into divorce with no kids and I high-tailed it back to California to be near family and friends. I started dating an old high school friend, bumped uglies judiciously as these things are wont to go and POW!, ended up preggers with #1 unexpectedly. ( I had concluded I was not able to have children at this point so wasn’t concerned but man was I WRONG!) We honeymooned, then FINALLY married ! AFTER #1 was born. I refused to be a pregnant bride, thank you very much. ( We all have our pecadillos, my friends. Even the World’s Okayest Mom!) I now have 3 kids I adore and loathe all at the same time and am limping along thru life the best way I know how- one day at a time. Which is, I am beginning to suspect, how most people do this stuff.

At this point, I have decided to attempt writing as a career, for many reasons I refuse to list here because who they heck cares? The fact is I am putting myself out there on the proverbial limb so Life, the Universe, and Everything can take a great big baseball bat in the sky whack at me now and again.

Since this post is about everything and nothing- Seinfeld comes to mind as I type that- I am curious if anyone out there has any ideas for blog topics…I’ll make a list myself and work from that – but I am truly interested in what anyone would like to hear me pontificate on…I can be conceited like that sometimes. And feel free to comment as that will help me get the hang of this blogging thing and maybe i just might say something about something on the next go ‘round!