Thursday, July 29, 2010

The Chinese are My Friends


OK, I take back everything that I said about thinking that Chinese spies were using my blog. They aren't. At least I hope they aren't.

After posting this blog the other day I was talking to my sister about it and she told me that because of Communism a lot of Chinese are using other ways to communicate with one another. I did remember reading/hearing that Facebook and Twitter, among other sites, had been banned in China. That makes me so so sad!

My sister was all, "NO THEY ARE! They are using your blog to communicate!" And suddenly I felt so cool and privileged that of all the blogs in the world they liked mine enough to use it as their channel.

But then my best friend is all, "YEAH, and then the CIA is going to have  you on their watch list!" and I say, "Let them! I have nothing to hide! I'm the mother of two children and I blog about stuff that's mainly just important to me, and I sell advertising." Oh yeah! That sounds really suspicious. But then my friend reminded me that they would just think that was my cover. I'm screwed!

So today I get on my blog about the Chinese and I have this message. I used Google to translate it so I hope it's right.

"People can not live like animals, but should pursue knowledge and virtue."

I sure hope they aren't saying I live like an animal without knowledge because I wasn't smart enough to catch on the first time! Sorry guys! I really don't think about Communism too much here in Houston. Or maybe they are telling me that they are tired of living like animals under their restricted life. Which if they are, that makes me even more sad. Because I don't think about Communism too often.

I go on in my life and I'm stressed out because we are going to have to pay $2,000 (YES, TWO THOUSAND!) dollars to get our SUV fixed once again... and then something like this just rattles me into reality.

We live in a country where we have freedom of speech (however unpopular that might be) and freedom of religion. I have the privilege of belonging to a religion, that however unpopular it may be, has fought in the Supreme Court many times for these basic freedoms.

I can blog about whatever I want to blog about, from the mundane to the controversial. People in China can not.  That is something to think about.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

The Chinese Love Me or Are Going to Kill Me

Before I start blogging I need to clarify that this is not meant to sound condescending in any way towards the Chinese. In fact I love everything Chinese. OK so now that I've made my disclaimer we can proceed.

annetaintor.com

A while back I started noticing that I was getting comments on my blog in Chinese. At first I figured they were spam. Then my husband suggested that I Google a translation. When we did that the comment was porn related so we just laughed about it and deleted the comment. Since then more comments would pop up and each time I'd delete them. Then not too long ago I noticed a comment from someone Chinese (their name was a Chinese symbol) and the comment was in English. And it was kind of a funny comment in an awkward English that looked like maybe the person had used a translation program themselves.

Next time I received a comment in Chinese I translated it to see what it said and it was actually somewhat of a message that related to what I had written in my blog. Hmmm... could it be that I've captured a Chinese following?? Kind of cool if I have, considering I haven't really captured an American following thus far. In fact, most, if not all, readers who don't know me come to my site via searching for Nike quotes.

So here are some of the comments I've received in Chinese that I translated.

"Message support please continue refueling." - I can't figure that one out. What were they referring to? Did I sound like I was all out of gas or couldn't go on any more? Hmm.. And WHO is message support?

"Your efforts have been seen- and support you." - Now THAT one is interesting! I'm wondering if my blog is serving as a place that people are sending each other secret messages. Wouldn't that be cool?? Kind of like that Russian spy circle they uncovered. Maybe my site is a place for Chinese spies to leave messages. Hmmm..

Then there are the English ones.

"far from eye, far from heart"

"After a storm comes a calm"

"It takes all kinds to make a world"

AND MY VERY FAVORITE

"Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it."

I will definitely heed this advise. Maybe that's why I carry JD Salinger's Nine Stories in my car with me. So in case I die in a car accident the police and the paramedics will pick it up and say, "Wow! She had good taste in literature!" Or something to that effect.

So hopefully the Chinese spies won't come kill me for uncovering their spy secret and if they do at least my house is full of really good literature.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Do You Know Where You're Going To? (ala Diana Ross)


Do you know where you're going to?

Do you like the things that life is showing you?

Where are you going to? do you know?

Do you get what you're hoping for?

When you look behind you there's no open door

What are you hoping for?

Do you know?

Song by Diana Ross
 
I blogged about the vision board over on skirt a couple of weeks ago and then I mentioned following our dreams again this past week.  I love that quote by Sam Phillips in Walk the Line. Sometimes I watch the movie up to that part just so I can hear it again. The actor who portrays Sam Phillips, Dallas Roberts, does such a great job in that scene just telling it like it is.
 
That speech he gives Johnny Cash includes so many things in life. It wasn't just about a song. It was about Johnny Cash embracing that moment, that rare chance that he had been given to audition. Sam is asking him to give it his all, to show him what he has in him. It was as if Johnny Cash was lying in that gutter in that very moment. As we know, he did grasp that moment and he gave him his all. He proved that he had it in him to be a star.

The truth is that I blogged about the vision board on July 4 and now it is the 16th and I still haven't made the board. Why? Because there is one part of me that's stuck and what's worse is that I can't even talk about it here because it's career related. Let's just say that I still feel like I am still at some crazy crossroads in my life. It's a very uncomfortable place to be in life and not where I want to be at forty. At the same time maybe it's not a bad thing because I'm at the halfway point of my life.

I hope that the vision board helps give me some direction. If not there's always my trustworthy PROS and CONS list.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Latest News on Other Blogs & In General

Magnet from annetaintor.com

I had a very productive weekend of writing. I started on Saturday with a blog on skirt! about my favorite all girl band, Girl in a Coma playing at the Tejano Music Awards on Sunday. 

Then on Sunday I blogged on Hips 'n Salsa about logging my food on livestrong.com. Pretty uneventful, but maybe helpful advice to some who don't know about livestrong.com.  

Sunday I also wrote a literary prompt response to this month's Literary Mama essay. I'm not sure if it will be accepted, but I've been wanting to do that for a while. I also need to finish a short story that I want to submit to Glimmertrain. I think I'll work on that next.

In other areas of my life as usual, when it rains it pours! Both my SUVs broke down at the very same time. So we spent today carless and stuck at home. I had to take an emergency vacation day tomorrow so we can take one of the SUVs to the shop and then I'll rent a car for work.

So yes, I'm not really medicated and motivated like my Anne Taintor magnet above says, but I feel like I need to be. I feel like it's always something and like my life is a constant challenge. And then I stop and I remind myself that despite these hiccups in life I have a lot more than many people and I have a healthy family. So I pick up and move on.

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Summer is Almost Half OVER And What Have I Accomplished?

It is hard to believe that the summer is almost half over. That just seems incredible, but I know I say that every time. I say it at the end of the school year and then I say it again when school is starting.

Magnet by Anne Taintor

It just seems that when summer is over half a year is over too, and I'm not any closer to my goals. Which is why I have decided to make a vision board to picture my goals and what is most important to me. One things that is important is the children's education and tonight I pulled out as many easy reader books as I could find to get my son started on his summer reading list.  We have less than two months now to get him up to speed on his reading before he starts first grade in the fall.

Also, we are almost half way done and I'm glad to report that my husband Rey has picked up his blog, You Should Blog About This again. I was starting to worry that he wouldn't record his wonderful summer experience with the kids. I tell him that they will remember this summer as long as they live. :) I'm so happy that he picked up his blog again because it will give me more writing material too. Like commentary on his blog topics! (evil grin)

I always envy people who have what I consider time to write. I envied my friends who were stay at home moms for a while and for their time living in Europe (Ireland and Spain) and I was always telling them that I wished they would keep a blog about their experience. I still tell them today that they have wonderful writing material. I'm so glad that my friend Viki is keeping a blog of her Singapore experience! I also envy my sister her summers because she only works during the school year. One of the reasons I should have become a librarian or a teacher back when I thought about doing it fifteen years ago.

I don't envy them in a bad way, but I guess how else can you view the word envy? I only wish that I had that time so that I could write full time during those periods. Then I think of Julie from Julie & Julia and I think of Gwendolyn Zepeda. Julie wrote her Julia Child cooking blog while working full time and Gwendolyn Zepeda works full time and writes full time. Which reminds me, I'm also giving away Gwendolyn's most recent book. Enter to win Lone Star Legend!

So no, I realize that working at home or being a stay at home mom (whichever term you prefer) isn't the answer. I know I can write and work full time. I only hope that one day soon I will publish something, or more than one thing, that will allow me to concentrate full time on my writing. And when that day comes I promise that after working for seventeen years I will fully appreciate that time.