Word Nerd – Word of the Day – Vitriol
Stop it.
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Dear Future President
Dear President (elect) Trump,
Congratulations seem to be in order. I know I am just one small voice in a raging sea of many, but I know every now and then, someone stops to listen for the sound of silence or the whispered voice amidst the cacophony of noise trying to drowning it out. My voice is but a whisper, a silence beneath a tempest of discontent. Silence can speak volumes and a whispered word can be heard clearer than a shout, if anybody stops to hear it.
I’m going to be honest, I, like so many Americans have been conflicted. I’m not one who often tosses her two cents into the heated pool of political conversations others readily dive in to. I prefer to keep my head above water, so to speak. Right now though, I’m going to take a few timid steps into the shallow end, just enough to get my feet wet.
You are soon to be the leader of a great nation, a powerful nation . . . a divided nation.
I’m sure you have many ideas on how to make it greater, as have those presidents who came before you. Some of them were great men the people respected and admired, others were men who thought they were great and demanded respect and admiration. Those men are only remembered for their shortcomings and failures, shortcomings and failures that led them and our country down the wrong path.
Respect is a tricky thing, you have to give it to get it. It is earned, it is reciprocated. Mr. Future President, the people deserve respect, they deserve a leader they can respect. I don’t see it right now.
This isn’t all on you. This is about us, as a nation, as a people. No one person brought us to this precipice, and if we don’t reach out to each other, we will be falling over the edge one by one until there aren’t enough people left to save.
Please remember that your job now is to lead, to make decisions that will better our country, our economy, our relationships with other nations. It is your job to broker peace, within our borders and beyond.
It is your job to represent the people of the United States of America in a way that reflects our values, not the values of some, but of all. It is your job to humble yourself before the people and do right by every citizen. It is your job to make decisions based on what is right and best, to listen to those around you. Listen to your fellow leaders, listen to your advisors, listen to the people.
Great leaders lead with not only their minds, but their hearts. They lead by example, they lead by listening, by understanding. They understand their role is not about power, it is about empowerment.
Mr. Future President, it is my prayer that you find balance, that you listen to everything around you with an open mind, that you base your decisions on more than checks and balances and bottom lines. I pray you seek direction and advice and opinions before you make conclusions and choices that effect our country and her people.
It is my prayer that you learn and grow as you lead, that you speak with intelligence and poise, that you posture yourself with a grace befitting of a leader. I pray you articulate your thoughts in a way that those who hear them will understand, in a way that leaves people with a sense of security. That your speech be measured and carefully constructed.
It is my prayer your heart be softened and your resolve firm, that the people are your first priority and you seek direction and advice and give heed to it.
The race is over and now the work begins . . .
Mr. Future President, the people of the United States of America need a leader who will be more than a leader, we need you to be one of the people – to walk with us, to put yourself in every single one of our shoes before choosing which path to follow.
Before I step out and dry my feet, I have one last thought. Be a good human, Mr. Future President, the world needs more of those.
Sincerely,
Crystal R. Cook, citizen . . . .
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Why won’t they just wash a dish every now and then?
My kids. Awesome. Really, they are truly awesome. I did a damn good job in the momma department. Serious kudos to me. Yeah, patting my own back. Someone’s gotta say it.
That being said, I’m going to admit to a little bit of spectacular failure on my part.
These kids, I say kids – they are 27, 24, 23, and 19 – these kids of mine have yet to master the art of washing a damn dish when they are finished with it! At the very least, they could load into the dishwasher. Sheesh.
*For clarification, the 23 year old girl-child no longer lives in my home, but I’ve been to her house, so . . .
I went wrong somewhere. I mean OK, they are kind, compassionate, respectful, loving and all kinds of other great stuff, but they don’t even rinse off their dishes without me losing half my sht to get them to do it. *sigh
Oh well. I still say I was a damn good parent. I’m putting this one on their dad.
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Mornings are hard . . .
. . . and glorious and beautiful and – early. Truth be told, I love mornings, I just wish they came a little later in the day.
I love the air in the mornings, it’s different somehow, don’t you think? It seems fresher and crisper. Mornings sound different, they even smell different.
Morning Glory, it must be grand . . .
When the sun rises, the birds outside my window start to sing a sweet morning song to welcome each new day (every frickin day) as it begins, sometimes I want to shoot them. Shoo, them. I meant shoo them, like away. What kind of monster do you think I am? (a grouchy, tired one) Well yes, generally speaking, I kind of am. Just in the mornings, mind you. OK, sometimes during the afternoon as well. And maybe the evening, a little and only sometimes. Depends on how loud and long those birds serenaded the morning.
I’ve never been an early riser, it doesn’t even matter how much or how little sleep I had the night before. The world just gets moving before I do. My poor mother, she had one hell of a time getting me up for school when I was a kid. Now I’m not saying she has any special powers, she’s not some supernatural spell-caster or anything like that, BUT, I am fairly certain she somehow saw to it that my own children would be difficult little beasts to rouse in the mornings just like I was.
Well played, Mom. Well played indeed.
My husband, bless his well rested soul, he manages to wake before the sun without feeling the need to choke people. I admire that, I don’t understand it, but I admire it. The best part about his early morning weirdness is the coffee. That sweet man 
makes me coffee every morning and sets it on my nightstand for me. I used to think it was because he loved me, now I know it’s more of a self-defense kind of thing, an offering to appease and soften me up before I stumble out of bed.
Most mornings it helps, but there are days, like today, when one cup just isn’t enough. Alright, it’s everyday. One is never enough. I’m on my own for that second cup though, it’s tough. It really is.
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Join me? Meme Story link-up
I’m gonna do something I’ve never done before. Join me?
Lately I’ve been having one helluva time finding the motivation and the inspiration to do the thing I most need to do, which is write. When I don’t write, I’m not quite right . . . You know what I mean, don’t you?
So yesterday, this meme popped up on my Facebook feed and it kind of made me giggle because I was thinking, “Oh yeah, I totally relate.” But then I was like, “Wait, I don’t have a cat.”
Obviously I may need to schedule an appointment of some kind to address this, we’ll see.
Mental health concerns aside, it did cause a little spark and a silly scene began to swirl inside my mind, so I jotted it down.
You see, yesterday, (a long, long time ago), I fell into a rabbit hole (I’m assuming that it was, though I’ve no real way to know), I fear I may have bumped my lid, at least I think I’m thinking this is what I did – I must have bumped my noggin at the very least once, or perhaps maybe even thrice, but for the sake of sake itself, let’s just say I bumped it twice.
No. That simply cannot be! I’ve no particular way to be certain that was indeed the case, so never you mind my kindest dears, forget all that I’ve just said, for if indeed I’d cracked my melon, surely I’d be dead.
Why then do you think, I would answer queries from a cat who isn’t really there? Oh bother with the bother, you needn’t answer something quite so silly. Anyway and besides, it makes no difference really. I like that cat, and he likes me back, so I suppose it matters little, (if it matters much at all), whether he’s real or whether he’s not, especially since, (and I think this might be true), that cat that’s not just might, as he seems to me to be, my very best and truest friend, perhaps the best that there could be.
Nonsensical scribblings led to an outpouring of other words, ones that made sense, and I wrote something real and good and lovely (and I’m still working on it).
I love link ups, I really do. I’ve found some amazing blogs and some amazing bloggy friends because of them and I’ve always wanted to host one of my own, but I’m lazy and kind of, sort of, almost (but not completely) certain no one else will link up and I will seem silly for trying, BUT, I’m working on squashing that doubtful, mean-spirited voice that’s always telling me not to bother with things like this, so . . . I’m doing it. A linky, sharey thing.
Here’s my idea – find a random meme and write about it. Something silly, something fun.
I need a great big break from the ebb and flow of red and blue we seem to be drowning in . . . I need a good giggle and I know, without a doubt, ya’ll can make that happen!
So please dear sirs and ladies, help a bogged down blogger out and link with me?
Something short, something long, something in between – one lines, two lines, maybe more than three, it doesn’t really matter, simply write something about a meme!
Follow The Qwiet Muse here on WordPress and/or (may I suggest AND?) The Qwiet Muse on Facebook (over there on the right, it’ll take just a second), to check back and read what others are (hopefully sharing). Check them out and let them know what you think!
I have some ideas to bring my little corner of the blog world to life, can’t do it without ya though, (insert most sweetly pathetic smile I can muster).
Okay, meme me with a little story. Please. (and maybe share with your bloggy friends)
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Tattoo? Yes please . . .
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Be a Good Human – It’s your choice . . .
It’s simple really, choose goodness. Choose kindness, respect, and compassion. Choose to walk away, choose to not respond to everything, at least until you’ve taken a moment to decide if you should.
Choose not to rush to judgement, choose to put yourself in someone else’s shoes before you criticize the way they walk. Choose actions over words, giving over taking, understanding over assumption.
It really is a choice and I can’t help but think your choices and mine, could change the world, even if it makes a difference to one person, one person who is wondering if there is anyone left cares, they might just go on and change the world even more.
Be a good human, the world needs more good humans.
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Mistaken for Patriotism – Alexander Hamilton
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And this is why tumbler annoys me –
My son was Googling my name for fun, because it’s super fun to Google your ma’s name when it pops up all over the place, and he stumbled across a tumbler thingy calling ME out for a pin I pinned on Pinterest forever ago. I have no clue how old this tumblarity is, but I kind of wanted to address it, plus, I’m a little bored – sooo . . .
**For clarifications sake, the portion of this I am referring to is inside the yellow box there on the right, the rest is my response.
The Qwiet Muse 