Those oh so dreadful song lyrics...

You know the ones... they're morally reprehensible and serve no purpose but to pollute young minds with thoughts of violence, greed, infidelity and irresponsibility.

I mean, for gawd's sake, check out THESE lyrics that my daughter brought home from school today... I know you know the song, but have you EVER paid attention to the actual words?


http://www.momsminivan.com/lyrics.html
In a cavern, in a canyon,
Excavating for a mine,
Lived a miner, forty-niner,
And his daughter Clementine.

CHORUS
Oh my darling, oh my darling,
Oh my darling Clementine
You are lost and gone forever,
Oh my darling, Clementine.

Light she was, and like a fairy,
And her shoes were number nine,
Herring boxes without topses,
Sandals were for Clementine. [Chorus]

Drove she ducklings to the water
Every morning just at nine,
Hit her foot against a splinter,
Fell into the foaming brine. [Chorus]

Ruby lips above the water,
Blowing bubbles soft and fine,
But alas, I was no swimmer,
So I lost my Clementine. [Chorus]

In a churchyard near the canyon,
Where the myrtle doth entwine,
There grow roses and other posies,
Fertilized by Clementine. [Chorus]

Then, the miner, forty-niner,
Soon began to peak and pine,
Though in life I used to hug her,
Now she's dead I draw the line. [Chorus]

In my dreams she still doth haunt me,
Robed in garments soaked with brine,
Though in life I used to hug her,
Now she's dead I draw the line. [Chorus]

Listen fellers, head the warning
Of this tragic tale of mine,
Artificial respiration
Could have saved my Clementine. [Chorus]

How I missed her, how I missed her,
How I missed my Clementine,
Till I kissed her little sister,
And forgot my Clementine. [Chorus]

Or how about this one? Did you know it's about the plague?

http://www.zelo.com/FAMILY/NURSERY/ringroses.asp
Ring-a-ring o' roses,
A pocket full of posies,
Achoo!, Achoo!
We all fall down.


Don't even get me started on Little Bunny Foo Foo... all that head bopping and goon creating.

Disgraceful, I tell you! Do we pay NO attention to what we're teaching our children?

I'm a retro girl...

It's true. I'm a bit behind the times. I still tend to hum Rick Springfield under my breath far more often than I do ... well... whoever is popular now.

I adopted the grunge look along with everyone else in the early 90's... and I've steadfastly stuck with it to the point that my neice wants to 'report me' to What-Not-To-Wear and Kendra has threatened to burn all my black v-neck t-shirts.

But ya know... I'm 34 years old. I really should be updating something... somewhere... yes? I realized the other day that I still have a Rollins Band t-shirt that I wear pretty often. And I think of it as an 'older' shirt. It's 17 years old! The SHIRT is the same age I was when I bought it!!!!! F*ck.

And my favorite jeans? I was lamenting the other day about the quality of them because they're falling apart. But ya know what? I bought them in 1994. They SHOULD be rags.

But honestly... can any of you picture me in anything except what I've been wearing every day since 1991? Really?

Someone needs to take me shopping. Any volunteers?

Help?

I don't 'get' the games that everyone plays on their PCs... WoW and Evercrack? I have Frogger on my PS2 and that makes me happy.

So someone explain to me why I am obsessed w/the Sims. I really thought that the people going so crazy over it when it came out, and soooo anticipating Sims2 were slightly dim. Barbie dolls for grownups, right?

But holy cow. I d/l the original off Limewire the other night and I play until I crash. I *gasp* found myself talking about the characters as if they had personalities! I have become a crazy person.

I'm buying Sims2 tonight for the playstation. Someone shoot me.

I'd like to thank the Academy...

Ok, not really. But this is interesting and so I'm sharing it.

http://www.rd.com/content/the-new-science-of-being-thankful/

What if, instead of wallowing in our misery, we all chose to focus on being valued by a dear friend, for example, or the memory of a colleague’s face when she receives a surprise birthday cake at work, or the smooth ride we’ve had to work in the past week? As science is now proving, feeling grateful can actually make us healthier, literally. Practicing gratitude, acknowledging the blessings in our lives and making it a point to recognize the good things can change us positively. We’ll sleep better and exercise more. We’ll feel more optimistic. We’ll be more alert and active. And if we do this over a period of time, we’ll realize that we’re making progress toward our life goals.

I like this idea. And for the past couple of years, since my life essentially melted down and I had to claw my way back up, I've been making a concerted effort to be thankful for the little things rather than worried about the OTHER little things. And so far it's working.

I'm happier. I'm more centered. I'm a better mom. I don't sweat the small stuff, and I'm noticing more and more that I don't even notice the small stuff - can you notice that you're not noticing? Well, I have.

Other people are noticing too... I was called happy and social the other day. ME! No kidding. Craziness.

So yeah... being thankful, even if it's for a stunningly gorgeous moon rising over the horizon, or the sunrise greeting you when you open your front door... thankfulness tends to create things to be thankful for.