Category Archives: Rants and Raves

An Open Letter to KABC’S Weather Team

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Dear Dallas Raines, Bri Winkler, Danny Romero, and Jonathan Novack:

I have been watching KABC’s “Eyewitness News” for as long as I can remember. Saying that, you can tell that I am very impressed with your anchors. Notice how I didn’t mention the weather “team.”

If you were a true team, you four would live your lives on the bench. Take this El Nino farce. You made it sound like in February each of us would need to buy arks. February was the hottest February on record.

Then, March was going to the rainy month. Okay, three rainy days so far. But none in the next week.

And 1/10 of an inch is not a storm. A drizzle for ten minutes is not a reason to go on “Storm Watch.” I can feel the rest of the rest of the country laughing at us. “Those weak Southern Californians,” while the east coast is mopping up after record rains. FEET of rain, not a miniscule amount.

A final thought: A Magic 8 Ball might not be the best “helper” for your forecasts.

Sincerely,

Erin Tharp

Wait A Minute

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keep-calm-and-wait-a-minute-9Politically, I would consider myself fairly middle of the road, yet leaning to the right. Most times I can find valid points from the Democratic side (don’t tell my Dad, who is a staunch Republican—if I told him the other side had a few good points he might disown me).

But why does every single thing that happens in the United States have to be turned into a political issue? Take what happened in San Bernardino. The details were barely known, yet the presidential candidates were using it to talk about their platform.

Come on! Fourteen people died, and many others are still in the hospital, including children.Can’t arguing about terrorism, immigration, and gun control wait? I’m guilty of posting a few conservative based-things (Dad would be proud) on Facebook, but I shouldn’t have. Politics can wait.

Today, let’s remember the victims.

 

Image: sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk

December Is The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

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black-friday

At church, our priest discourages his parishioners from doing any Christmas-related activities until after Thanksgiving, especially Black Friday shopping (although since Walmart offers Black Friday deals all day long on Thanksgiving, I suppose you could call it Black Thursday. Or Black Thanksgiving.). My family has always waited to decorate or listen to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving, but to the majority of Americans, Christmas starts after Halloween. Okay, I know I’m exaggerating, but it sure feels like it. Right after Halloween, up went the Christmas decorations in our city. Sirius/XM started playing Christmas music (actually that might been before Halloween!), and Christmas trees, along with Santa in some cases, graced every mall.

 

Aren’t we forgetting something? Oh yeah. Thanksgiving. How did a nice holiday, complete with good food, family, and a good message, get swept away like that? Being thankful for what you have shouldn’t be one of those calendar-filling holidays like, say, Arbor Day. And if you are giving thanks, Christmas just might be a little more special.

 

Happy Thanksgiving, readers!

They’re So Overrated

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“That’s All, Folks!” I wish.

You already know that I’m very random. Quirky as well. I think the people at WordPress had me in mind when they decided on today’s prompt. I am not only random and quirky, you can definitely add sarcastic. Very sarcastic.

Having said that the following is a list of words/concepts that have had their time, but it’s time to retire.

  1. Looney Tunes: a cheap Disney copycat.
  2. Clowns: unless you are three, scary.
  3. Harry Potter: talk about scary.
  4. Sci-Fi/Fantasy: see above
  5. “Dancing With the Stars”/”The Bachelor”/”The Bachelorette”: haven’t seen them, but ABC needs to stop with the commercials.
  6. “Entertaining”: just say you’re having people over.
  7. Cruises: pay a fortune for claustrophobia.
  8. Lakers: near Los Angeles during basketball season it’s all you hear about.
  9. Camping: a hotel, please.
  10. Halloween: fine, if your age is in the single digits.
  11. Pandas: I don’t need to know when one is pregnant or just had babies.

Am I missing anything? Yes, actually. The above are only eleven from a list of 67 items on my “overrated” list. But you get the picture.

What would you add?

Image: macrobusiness.com

To Die For: An Editorial

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Courtesy: transformrockford.org

According to Statistic Brain.com there are well over 218 million Americans who are eligible to vote. Yet only just over 146 million did in the 2012 election. Of those, 69% of men and 72% were women.

Just some trivia to prove my point for this post. Another incredible/sad fact: According to Wikipedia, out of the world’s 196 countries (About.com) a measly 24 are full democracies! That really puts things into perspective doesn’t it? We are so lucky, yet there are millions of Americans who don’t take advantage of what billions around the world would love to have.

Think of the Revolutionary War. Americans were willing to die for something we take for granted. Women fought tirelessly to vote and it was finally granted in 1920. African Americans in 1959.

It’s a little early to say who I will vote for. I was thinking Trump, but he has a big mouth. I watched the debate, and couldn’t believe his comments.

So I don’t who for, but I will be voting in 2016. Will you be joining me?

OMG, That’s Annoying!

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I told you that bad grammar was my pet peeve, but I’ve thought of something else that is right up there on the extremely annoying scale: laziness. I would never hear the end of it if I admitted this to my parents (actually I think I will be getting a huge I told you so from Mom, who posts my posts for me), but if you just do something right the first time, you’ll save yourself a whole lot of effort.

Probably like every kid on the planet at one time or another, I ran the toothbrush under the faucet instead of brushing my teeth. Instead of making my bed, I just pulled up the comforter, while the blanket and sheet remained a jumbled mess.

There is a new form of laziness for the 21st century, and you know what I’m talking about—it runs rampant on social media: LOL, OMG, IDC. Now that’s lazy! Just SAY it, already! And who comes up with that stuff, anyway?

Courtesy: squarelulu.blogspot.com

I know a lot of it came from text messages’ shorthand, which I get. But what about, say Facebook? Why not type the whole phrase? Just laziness, I tell you!

I so wish I had the nerve to say something! It would go something like this: If you took the time just typing what you wanted to say, instead of coming up with abbreviations and reinventing the wheel, you would probably be time ahead.

Now, I just need the guts to say so the next time I see it on FB (oops—I mean Facebook)!

Stylish

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Courtesy: Grammarsass

You have undoubtedly heard that people judge you based on what you say. For me, it’s your grammar, and when typed, punctuation. An error in either is worse than nails on a chalkboard—more like knuckle cracking, which is a sound that gives me the creeps.

But I would rather hear knuckle cracking 24 hours a day than things like, “Me and her are going to dinner.” Horrible. Or, “You is nice.” Awful. And my personal favorite: Misuse of the word “literal,” as in, “We literally froze.” It must be a miracle—a frozen person is talking to me right now!

Written mistakes might be worse because you can’t tune them out. For starters, how about they’re, their, and there? Or affect and effect? How about the same word with multiple meanings: Think about rose and rose. Saw and saw. Or a comma that can completely change the meaning of a sentence: “Can we eat Mom?” or, “Can we eat, Mom?”

Personal style in clothes is one thing, but taking liberties with the English language can label people lazy, not stylish.

Enough is Enough!

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You know the feeling when you are sick—not physically sick, mind you, you’re just wishing a particular something would leave and not return? Well, here are my things that if they left Planet Earth I would be thrilled. Warning: I’m not crazy, just random.

  • Storm Track on KABC: Since when is 1/8 of an inch of rain a storm? I can feel the rest of the country laughing at those weak Southern Californians.
  • Ripped jeans: It’s not exactly chic to dress like a slob.
  • “The Bachelor”/”The Bachelorette”: There isn’t that much crying at a funeral.
  • TLC: Okay, I admit I watch it; after all, isn’t it The Learning Channel? Still, how are “My Gypsy Wedding” and “Return to Amish” educational?
  • The word “viral”: Viral is something that makes you miss a day or two of school. Viral can’t “go.”
  • Pop-Ups: If I want you, I will click on you.
  • Game invites on Facebook: See above.
  • Christmas now beginning in September: Excuse me, but isn’t Christmas in winter?

And my personal favorite:

I’m embarrassed for them.

  • Dressing up pets as children: They are animals, after all (sorry, Maggie)!

 

Image: Pinterest

A Long Road

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Courtesy zenpsychiatry.com

I love my brain. It allowed me to graduate high school number 30 in a class of over 500. It allowed me to receive my AA and even take online classes to this day (I’m actually enrolled in a creative writing class as we speak). On the other hand, my ?!#$%ing brain (I’m too much of a lady) is my nemesis.

My condition is very similar to multiple sclerosis: the white matter in my brain was destroyed. But as MS is a gradual process, my damage happened all at once. The best doctors in the country are still scratching their heads. I went from being a high school freshman in a prestigious honors program to being in a coma a few hours later.

I think the most frustrating part is that I remember exactly how to do everything. Walking, for instance: you simply (ha ha) bring up your calf, bend your knee, and bring your hamstring forward. I remember how, it’s just my !#$% brain who forgot.

I still have physical therapy, and as anyone with MS will tell you everyday is different. I have therapy on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Tuesday could be a good day, where I do everything perfectly, then I can’t do anything on Thursday. You get the point.

On my bad days, I tend to beat myself up. But something just clicked with me. I have no idea why it came so late on this journey, but I finally realized it’s not ME doing things wrong, it’s my bleeping brain.

That’s good news. I guess.

New and Definitely Improved

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I freely admit to being a people pleaser. Even with dumb things like watching TV! I will even sacrifice something I’ve been looking forward to, just so the other person won’t be unhappy. Stupid, right?

I’ve tried so hard to break this habit. It works for a while, but after a few days, but then I am exactly where I started. I need People Pleaser Anonymous!

My last post, about the Bruce Jenner interview (I basically compared him to me, that it is brain mechanics) might have caused for some people to disagree with me. I don’t mind at all! It is a confusing issue!

Tonight the moon will be 76% full (Thanks, farmersalmanic.com) but it might as well be full. I’ve decided to change up my blog. It was so liberating to speak my mind! The new one will be so out of my comfort zone, but I guess bloggers do take chances. You can’t please everyone!

You may not agree with what I have to say, and that’s fine. Feel free to comment, and get a dialogue going.

Disclaimer: I am not a Celine Dion fan. But the song worked, and the video adds interest. Don’t you think?