Tastebud Massacre - Spring Break Saison

Author's note:  I have been holding on to this for a while, not sure if I should publish it or not.  I finally decided it was worth it to share for a good giggle.  We're lucky (heh) to have this brewery in our backyards, and hopefully they can take a little ribbing from a beer fan.

Dear Lucky Bucket Brewing Company,

I love you, man.  I do.  I think the fact that you’re practically in my backyard is awesome.  You done made me proud on more than one occasion.  But, we have got to talk about this seasonal brew of yours.  The Spring Break Belgian style saison was more of a letdown than the IRS declining to investigate Amy’s Baking Company for tax fraud.  

My Coffee Smells Like Beauty

Yesterday, a couple of neighborhood facts walked up to me and sucker punched me right in the feels.  My "feels" are buried under so much scar tissue and thickened skin, I didn't expect it to hurt.  Boy, I was wrong.  The perp of this heinous act of wanton emotional endangerment and assault with a dangerous idea was Dove.  You know, the people that make the soap and beauty products.  

Since September of 2004, they've been running what they call The Campaign For Real Beauty.  At the time, only 2% of women described themselves as beautiful, and Dove was afraid that what we stressed as such was becoming "limiting and unattainable".  They've made a real effort to change the idea of what beauty is.  I want very badly to think they're succeeding.  Their most recent campaign was enough to convince me that it seems to only be working on a superficial level.  It would seem that the idea of beauty is being more widely accepted in other people.  But, when it comes to embracing our own beauty, we still doubt ourselves.  Apparently, Dove wanted to do something about that too.  That's why they came up with their commercial entitled "Sketches".  It was a real moment to wake up and smell the coffee.  And the coffee smelled like beauty.

Biological Scavenger Hunt

A friend of mine posted an image today asking to help an elderly woman find her grandson, who was adopted.  It got me thinking, do you think it's possible to crowd-source this sort of thing?  And then slowly, I started to think it can't hurt to try.  I have always known I was adopted.  I've also never held out hope to learn much about my roots, so it's never been important for me to find them.  I'm also a worry wort, so to know any potential hereditary conditions also is a sort of boon.  Less for me to worry about in advance.  But, the older I get, the more I love hearing stories others collect throughout their lives.  There's a part of me that wants to hear my biological mom's, and anybody else's that I can find along the way.  So, here goes.

Heartfelt Thank You to Walgreens

Dear Walgreens,

I wanted to tell you about the outstanding service I recieved with my last contact with one of your pharmacies.  Six days ago, I had a prescription for a new antidepressant called in to the location where I generally get all of my presciptions filled.  I got an email saying that the pharmacy had gotten my medication, but my insurance company wasn’t going to cover it.  I could pick it up, but would be responsible for the retail price.  I called to follow up and find out if there was something I needed to do.  It was late in the day on Friday, and as it would happen, my insurance company required a letter from my doctor as to why I was changing medications.  When I asked what I could do, I was told that I’d have to wait for the doctor and insurance companies to complete their parts.  In effect, my hands were tied.

DIY Cards Against Humanity

The Samurai of Spoken Word have an event coming up where we're going to be playing a party game called Cards Against Humanity team trivia style.  I'm excited for several reasons.  First of all, it's going to be a hoot juut because the game rocks.  (It's best described as Apples to Apples for people going to hell.)  But, I also get to use my own home made deck AND be the MC for the night.  I can't wait for the 28th.

On Losing Daphne

My mom had to make the painful decision to have her dog, Daphne, put to sleep yesterday.  During the course of a discussion about both Daph's life, and my mom's fondness for spoiling her animals, I remembered the following story.  I wanted to write it down before I forgot about it and it was lost to the ages.

Calling Bullshit On "Too Old To Work a Computer"

If there’s one assumption in the  help desk environment that’s as close to universally accepted as you can get, it’s that the younger a person is, the more adept they will be at picking up new technology.  I’ve worked with plenty of users who seem to fit the stereotype for their age group.  I’ve talked with young people who are fresh out of college, and all you have to do is tell them in IT lingo what they need to do and they’re on the fix like white on rice.  I’ve had older people who’s hearing aids are whistling feedback into the phone not understand a single word I’ve told them and had them hang up in frustration.  So yes, the stereotype exists because there are people that it applies to.  But, be careful to assume that it’s one size fits all.