Sunday, March 30, 2014

Talk, Talk 2




You have to wonder how, sometimes, words twist to the point they're interpreted in a completely different manner than originally intended.

While it can be the power and the passion with which they're delivered, just the same tossing them to the wind with a lackadaisicalness can promote unintentional and detrimental feedback. 

It happens all the time. Reviews and critiques from the media. An interpretation of some television or radio ad. The way something comes across in a print article.

Good intentions skewed awry.

I found myself on the giving (and receiving end) of such "a twist" much to my chagrin. And, while it caused consternation, discussion and a couple apologies, it rounded out with something I say continuously:


You don't learn from your successes,
you learn from your mistakes.



Interestingly enough, I had dreams last night of being unable to reproduce lyrics to various Bachman-Turner Overdrive and Loggins & Messina songs I was recording in a studio somewhere. (Hey ... I can dream, can't I?) So ... the lyrics below - courtesy of Stan Ridgway - work perfectly :


"Now when the world is over, clocks run outta wind
Somebody will scrape through the ruins and find
A little picture of you and in a file they found
Sayin' 'Just a little too smart for a big dumb town' ..."

- "Big Dumb Town"

"Trees are tall and grass is green
One's alone and two's a team
Play guitar and make a scene
Read about it in a magazine.

"Tired of playin' what to be?
Friend is now an enemy
Slam a door and break a glass
From there to here has gone too fast."

- "Gone The Distance"

"He took a drive down the coast highway
Blowin' where the air was fresh and clean
He had a plan that said 'I'll do it my way'
but he could not plan for what he couldn't see ..."

- "Down The Coast Highway"


.......... Ruprecht ( won't ever STOP putting his foot in his mouth* )
* And this is okay. Because, if that ever happened, it would be a really boring life.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Talk Talk




"Our conversations have not been such 
that I am anxious to continue them."  
- Peter Lorre, The Maltese Falcon


.......... Ruprecht ( should have STOPped when I knew better ... )

Monday, March 10, 2014

It May Be My Middle Name, But That Doesn't Mean I'm Obligated To Eat'em

 A real English muffin boasts substance.

My "go-to" breakfast of choice when there's little time - or you don't want or feel like a proper sit down breakfast - is an English muffin toasted medium and slathered with butter and crunchy peanut butter.

Yes ... an English muffin with butter and crunchy peanut butter. That's butter. Not margarine, not some sort of Oleo, not that "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" stuff and certainly not the yoghurt-substitute-trans-fatted-calf-extra-ingredient-faux-butter-better-for-you-than-butter-and-tastes-like-real-butter dreck. And yes ... that's crunchy peanut butter. Not the creamy, earth-toned, characterless spread. (I do not understand the need for creamy peanut butter unless you have a denture problem.)

But ... there's that main ingredient: The English Muffin. And let me tell you something: Thomas English Muffins? Completely substandard when it comes to my wants in that department.


There is no point to this kind of English muffin ...
... unless it is the only thing in your pantry and you will die if you don't eat it.

They're flatter than a pancake, you can't separate one half from the other without it ripping gouges and holes in the halves (this must be what the company means by "nooks and crannies") and their flimsy as all get-out. Oft times you're relegated to taking a knife to slice the sucker in half and that completely defeats the purpose of an English muffin ... and its nooks and crannies that are supposed to lovingly maintain their pittedness in order to cater to the liquids and other condiments applied to the bread after toasting.

Give me those down-home, plain wrapped, English muffins any day of the week. Yeah, the ingredients in Thomas' product may be notches above but, when it comes to consistency, texture, hefty-appearance and simple "Feel Good Inc." appreciation, the plain wraps beat Thomas top side down.

So there.


.......... Ruprecht ( STOP settling for Thomas English Muffins. You deserve better. )

Friday, March 7, 2014

Joy To The World ... Again!



Yay! Daylight Saving Time is here again!

Advantages of this time period include:

  • Summertime!
  • Better use of daylight hours!
  • Summer days!
  • Fewer road accidents resulting in fewer road injuries!
  • More social time for everyone as outdoor activity is increased!
  • Electricity savings because you are out of the house and using less in your house!

Know who else observes DST? Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bermuda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Gaza Strip, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Haiti, Vatican City, Hungary, Iran, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Republic of Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, The Bahamas, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Ukraine, United Kingdom, West Bank, Western Sahara and more will be joining most of the United States! Which means any of you who are cranky about the coming time change can be comforted in the fact you'll be doing so - if the need strikes you - internationally!


*McWoot ... !!!*

And that's hand-in-hand coming together ... isn't it?

Love, peace and understanding, people ... love, peace and understanding.

And ... if I know most of you, you've already used up your allotment of naps for the year already ...

Happy Daylight Saving Time! (I don't need to tell you to spring ahead one hour when you go to bed Saturday night, do I? Because you've lived long enough to remember this ... I'm certain of it.)


.......... Ruprecht ( STOP griping about things you can't change ... unless you want to move to Arizona )


Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Love

"If you wish to be loved,
show more of your faults than your virtues."

- Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton
 

Him:  I just realized that you are totally going to love Nebraska ... (the film, I don't know how you'll feel about the state)

Me:  I figured I would. (The film ... not the state.)
 

Him:  I mean, it's about a crotchety, near-senile old man who bothers people. Right up your alley!
 

Me:  I'm not following you ... Jerk ...
 

Him:  Not following? That's probably the near-senile part kicking in ...
 

Me:  Perhaps you didn't see the "jerk" in the response above ... said lovingly ...


.......... Ruprecht ( won't STOP being crotchety no matter what anyone thinks )



Sunday, March 2, 2014

BuzzFeed Me, Baby. Just BuzzFeed Me



Of course, I'm kidding.
 

Don't BuzzFeed. Don't ever BuzzFeed me. You'll be wasting your time. But ... if you're BuzzFeeding, you already know that so ... never mind.

Here's the deal: No, no and no.

No, I don't care which Lord Of The Rings character I am. No, I don't care which NASCAR driver I lean toward. No, I don't give a hoot which state bird I would best represent.

No, I don't know nor care which food I'm most like, which soft drink I would make the best spokesman for or what number I would look like if I looked like a number.

I could give a flying farce which Seinfeld personality is most like me nor which Big Bang Theory / Veronica Mars / Lost / Breaking Bad / Mad Men character would best go with a particular part of the country. (Those who know me know I have never seen an episode of Seinfeld so you really know the pointlessness of that ...)

I have no clue what color is antagonistic to me at a given altitude, what roller coaster is closest to my shoe size, which pizza topping I would be likely to find in my purse (if I carried one), which flavored water I'm partial to, if I would make a better blond / brunette / redhead / bald person or which of my five senses I would prefer to lose if I had to lose one.

I don't give a rat's ass which celebrity I would gravitate toward if I went gluten free, I can't fathom what name I would name the General Lee if I were in charge of such a naming and I won't suggest the next title or villain in the next Star Wars film.

You know what drink I would be if I were a drink? I don't care. You know what planet I would wish to wear around my waist in a race? Nope ... don't care. You know how short my skirt would be at an upcoming Christmas party? What? You don't? Guess what? Me neither.

I don't care which 80s song best represents me, what classic bombshell I would date back in the day, which archaic word I would bring back if I could make one popular again, which tile style my brain looks like, what year I would prefer to be reborn in, which cat breed my ass looks like, what state I would live in if I could live in any state I wanted nor which luchador I would like to go up against if the world depended on me to go up against one next week.

So ... here's my suggestion, BuzzFeed: 


Buzz on by me.

Thanks in advance for your time and consideration. 


.......... Ruprecht ( STOP ... just stop ... )