Reflection: My Friend Mandy

I was looking up "Mandy doll" on eBay for a Squidoo page I was working on.  I looked at the ads at the bottom of the page.  Apparently they had Mandy's current page, current address, and telephone number.  Wow! And was Mandy on Facebook, too?

'My Friend' dolls sending friend requests to former playmates? They don't call them My Friend dolls for nothing.

What an advanced age this is! (Or is there something disingenuous here?)

In Between: Tunes our Minds Play

I never know what song I will hear in Walgreen's -- or what my ears will tell me I heard. I have located the song now on Youtube, and the refrain is "Burnin' for you". Ah, but what I heard (over and over and over) there in Walgreen's was "I'm done running, I'm 32."

In-Between Reflection: Honk If...

It's nice to have a bank where they know you, especially when you're without an ID and such. Oh, at Wells Fargo, I'd say they they know me.

Anyhow... I was at the bus stop in the University District when a bus went by wearing a "Honk if your bank is terrific." Hmmm, but I don't drive, and I would look pretty silly on my own there honking like a goose.

In-Between: Misheard Song Lyrics of the '80s

Go on and close your eyes, imagine me there

We can sit on the beach, with longer hair

-Melissa Etheridge, Similar Features

Don't make me yodel!

-Belinda Carlisle, Don't Make Me Over

When life gets tough, long-winded baby...

Steve Winwood, Roll With It

Reflection: No, No, I'm a RocketMom!

There are two songs going around my head, both by Elton John. But let me backtrack a moment.

There has been some controversy, on Squidoo, about a group called RocketMoms: Do they get preferential promotion, and, if so, is it discriminatory, as the group is open to less than half of the population? Some people feel quite strongly about this issue. I believe that the latest flurry of communication traces to a person who expressed that it was difficult enough to not have the opportunity to be a mom without watching a group of mothers get preferential treatment, business-wise.

Many people have been on those forum threads, offering heartfelt opinions on both sides of the issue. One comment that was humorous, if not 100% appropriate: that on the internet, anyone who chose could be female. Hmmm... On the one hand, I do believe internet relationship should be based on trust. On the other hand, it has gotten easier, since the days of Tootsie... Picture this scenario: A man, struggling with his freelance career, considering possibly an expose, infiltrates Rocket Moms. The situation becomes more complex when he -- a single father -- falls in love with one of the moms.

One of the songs in my head is quite serious: "I need you, before I'm too old, to have and to hold..."

The other is lighter fare: "I'm not the mom they think I am at all. No, no, I'm a Rocket Man!"

Reflection: Listening Across Time and Space

I've been listening to my Squidoo page, Going Greyhound Without Going Crazy. Now you might be thinking that there are a lot of interesting people in the word to converse with, and wondering just what my Squidoo page would be doing that's got me listening to it with such rapt attention. Well, you see... it sings. I added an Amazon module with some clips of road songs and other songs about going home: It's got two separate songs titled "Home" in addition to "Homeward Bound", "Travelin' Blues", "Teach Your Children Well" (You, who are on the road, must have a code...)

So I am intending to have 50 of those pages completed and become a 'Big Squid' along about this summer. Some webpages have more of me in them than others. This Greyhound piece is a fairly straightforward commercial piece, with the exception of a couple things like... well, the ad modules. My netbook is recommending a particular carrying case for travel. If one reads the fine print of that Amazon module, they will see that, in addition to its other fine attributes, the netbook case is quite comfy, or at least that I've heard that it is, though I can not actually fit inside it myself.

I'm not real good at doing the commercial thing -- I tend to do what pleases my heart and/or aesthetic sensibilities. But, since so many things in life have 'theme songs' that Amazon module is handy. I'm planning on putting up a couple more 'lenses' soon that include music modules: Amazon and YouTube. One lens is going to use, as its main text, an essay from I wrote a few years back. School will resume next week -- with just a few more weeks before semester break, but honestly, the most useful thing I can probably do this week is keep my nose to the... internet: internet writing, internet teaching...

I've got projects -- some personal, some bigger than personal -- that I'll write about soon.

PS Reflection: A Dalai Lama With...

This is a postscript to my "Inside the Rains Begin" post. One thing that was lost in that plumbing-related flood I described: a small book of Dalai Lamas that, though slightly oversized, have come in handy as postcards.

I pulled the sopping, not quite mushy little Dalai Lama book out from under my bed and reluctantly declared it unsalvageable. To the trash bin it went. A few hours later, though, I found one remaining Dalai Lama amongst the personal pictures in my photo box. The real kicker: He was carrying an umbrella.