Sharing My World 45

What my kids and I looked like when we lived in Inuvik, although not for the entire time because we were there for four years. We were not always sepia coloured.

SHARE YOUR WORLD – 2016 WEEK 2

Do you believe in extraterrestrials or life on other planets?

In the Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel movie when Evelyn is asked if she is in a relationship with Douglas she says “Well, we are not NOT together.”  That’s how I feel about aliens.  I do not NOT believe in them. Still, if one were to come up to me in the grocery store and ask me how my day was going, I would be very surprised.  But just because I can’t imagine that happening doesn’t mean it isn’t possible.  I don’t think life as we know it is the only kind of life there is in the universe.  If there is something beyond death as we know it, perhaps we will be astounded at how limited and biased and deluded we were in our beliefs, no matter what they were, one way or the other, before we got there.  And if there’s nothing, there’s nothing.  No point in getting your shorts in a knot about it.

So I try to keep an open mind.  Live and let live.  It would be foolish to believe we are the most intelligent life forms in existence when you consider some of the bizarre things we’ve been up to.

How many places have you lived? You can share the number of physical residences and/or the number of cities.

1. Saugeen township farm until age six (Ontario)
2. Arran township farm until leaving home
3. Orchard house while attending teachers college in Stratford
4. Shared 2 bedroom apartment, substitute teaching in St. Catharines
5. Room and board in private house in St. Catharines while attending Brock U.
6. Rented garage sized house in Kenora after getting married.
7. Basement apartment in private house, Dryden
8. High rise apartment in Guelph when W went back to University
9. Basement student campus co-op apartment in Guelph – baby daughters first home
10. Government house in Cambridge Bay, NWT, baby sons first home
11. Government row housing in Inuvik, NWT.
12. Government house in Pond Inlet, NWT.
13. Government house in Yellowknife, NWT.
14. Current house in Sherwood Park, Alberta.  (Bought and paid for…yay!). It’s nothing fancy but it feels like home.

If you were given $22 million tax free dollars (any currency), what is the first thing you would do?

Put it in the bank and think about it.  I’m sure I would suddenly have lots of advice and suggestions pouring in from all directions filling up this open mind of mine.  I might move to a new house.  It’s been awhile for us nomads.

The Never List: What are things you’ve never done? Or things you know you never will do?

Never say never!  Because you never know!!  I’ve never communicated with extraterrestrial beings.  Or have I?  How would I know for sure?

One thing I feel certain about at this moment in time is that I will NEVER take a trip to the South Pole.  But if I do I will send you a post card saying sorry, I was wrong about that.  Wish I weren’t here.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Since I mentioned all the screaming going on in Midsomer Murders whenever a body is discovered (and there can be up to five in a single episode) there has suddenly been a marked lack of it.  I’m grateful for the depiction of other plausible reactions, even though now I could be seen as a sarcastic exaggerator for mentioning it in the first place.  Like that might be the worst thing I’ve ever been called.

I was sad to learn of David Bowies death today, but I’m looking forward to all the tributes and flashbacks of his extraordinary life.

Death is such a funny thing.  We know it happens to every one of us, but no matter how much warning we might get when its imminent, we are never prepared for it.  There’s that ‘never’ word again.  It’s like a hard punch to your heart, ready or not.

So let’s be grateful for the memories.

 

 

A Giraffe’s Coffee…

…and other serious stuff found on Facebook.

 

 

Just Jazzy 210

paracosm (n) a detailed, prolonged, imaginary world created by a child; including human, animal and alien creations.

One or two, but often zero! That’s how many glasses of wine it takes for my childhood paracosm to magically come to life. How about you?

 

The End of the World

Ten Little Aliens (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Perhaps they got the date wrong after all.  Although there’s still time to converse with aliens.

Brownie Points and a Brief Bulletin

Jazz Has a Sense of Humor (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Thank you Molly at http://mollyfielddotcom.wordpress.com/ for thinking of me for the “creepy-chain-maily” award.  HAHA!  I love it.  I’ve turned out to be good at accepting these things but not so great at passing them along – unlike Molly, who is able to accept three of them with aplomb in one fell swoop. Amazing.  Click on the link to see for yourself.  I hope this gets her some extra attention, because she has a fun blog and a great sense of humor. Instead of making a list in this post of blogs I love to follow, I’ve decided to update my “appearance” here with a “Blogs I Follow” widget.  This was so incredibly EASY, I have no idea why I didn’t do it sooner.  The only problem – the maximum number for the list is 50, and it picks up the latest ones I’ve followed, and not the ones I’ve followed the longest.  So some of my oldest and dearest friends are missing from this grid.  Boo.

No matter, you know who you are, and I don’t love you any less.  And it’s quite possible that I’ve sent you an award already that you’ve politely ignored and are breathing sighs of relief now that it’s not happening AGAIN, thank Christ.  Sorry to the few people who would never say that.

English: Johnny Depp at a ceremony for Penélope Cruz to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m supposed to list seven random facts about myself, but I’ve decided to copy and paste a bunch of questions nobody asked me and assume that will more than cover the requirements. This is the bulletin part you can skip over entirely if you already know more about me than is good for your health.

• What’s better, being an adult or being a child?  Being an adult doing childish things.
• How many pairs of shoes do you own?  Three that I wear – thirty or so that live in my closet.
• If space travel became possible for the average person, would you go?  Only under heavy sedation.
• If you were given a large sum of money to donate to a charity of your choice, which charity would you choose?  Cancer research.  We need prevention and we need a cure.
• Reality TV: Good or Bad?  BAD BAD BAD.  Because the reality part is a big fat lie.
• If you could be a character in a book which character would you be and why? Alice when she returns to Wonderland as an adult and gets to hang out with Johnny Depp.  I mean the Mad Hatter.  I know it’s a movie.  I don’t care.
• What is the weirdest food you have ever eaten? Muk-tuk.  Although I’m not sure I swallowed any of it.
• What laundry detergent do you use?  Purex or Sunlight.  Did you need to borrow some?
• Do you think aliens exist?  Yes. But then I think a lot of strange and unbelievable things.
• Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate, no contest.
• What is the worst job you have ever had?  Being a waitress when I was a teenager. That’s why, ever since, I’ve been amazingly nice to wait staff no matter how bad they are.

1. Are you a dog, bird or cat person?  Cat person because they’re so independent, but lately I’ve become a non-pet person altogether.
2. Favorite ice cream presentation: hard packed or soft serve? Cake cone or sugar cone? Seriously, any of them, it really does not matter in the least.
3. Favorite time of day: dawn or eventide? Dawn.  With the whole day ahead of me.  At eventide, I’m usually remorseful that I didn’t take full advantage of that whole day ahead of me.
4. What do you like most in others?  A sense of humor. The ability to really listen.
5. What is the most frustrating part of your craft?  My lack of ambition.
6. What do you do for exercise?  HAHAHA!  Oh – were you serious?
7. What is your favorite personal quality in yourself? My sense of humor and ability to really listen.
8. Is where you are right now in your life where you expected to be?  More or less.
9. What would you change, if you could, about your life per your answer above?  I’d be retired already with a shit load of money.
10. What is the greatest sorrow you have experienced? The death of my parents.
11. What is your greatest joy?  My family, my kids and my grandchildren and how life goes on.

Carry On

For the last couple of days I’ve had a hard time getting to my quiet, calm and peaceful place.  Shit happens.  Sometimes it hits you from two different directions at once. What else can you do but stay calm and carry on.

My collection of written work begs to be organized and I’ve been working on that, in an attempt to sort out the little gems from the great pile of crap.  Here’s one that was perhaps a little more inspired than normal.

Do You Think Aliens Have Ever Visited Earth?

Of course they have. I’ve seen the movies. They live among us. But only because their space ships have malfunctioned and can’t be repaired and they’re stuck here indefinitely. Otherwise they’d be long gone. Originally aliens landed here with the intent of taking control and colonizing this planet but now that they’ve seen what a complete bloody mess it’s in that idea has been shelved. There are other worlds where the inhabitants aren’t so dead set on destroying everything around them and making themselves extinct and they’ve chosen to settle in those galaxies of less insanity instead.

Although aliens have cleverly disguised themselves as ordinary human beings (and let’s face it, the choices are infinite because no one is sure what a normal human being actually is), you can recognize one by observing how they shake their heads and roll their eyes and mutter things like ‘what the hell were we thinking’ when no one is paying any attention to them. Plus their skin is a weird blue/green color and they glow in the dark.

I could also tell you all about time travel and parallel dimensions and black holes and alien abduction if you want, but maybe we shouldn’t get ourselves into a state of information overload and blow up our craniums with short circuits and an overdose of b.s. Save those brain cells for thinking up new ways to obliterate the planet. That’ll show those aliens who’s in control.

Aliens on Earth

Do you think aliens have ever visited Earth?

Alien

Of course they have. I’ve seen the movies. They live among us. But only because their space ships have malfunctioned and can’t be repaired and they’re stuck here indefinitely. Otherwise they’d be long gone. Originally aliens landed here with the intent of taking control and colonizing this planet but now that they’ve seen what a complete bloody mess it’s in that idea has been shelved. There are other worlds where the inhabitants aren’t so dead set on destroying everything around them and making themselves extinct and they’ve chosen to settle in those galaxies of less insanity instead.

Although aliens have cleverly disguised themselves as ordinary human beings (and let’s face it, the choices are infinite because no one is sure what a normal human being actually is), you can recognize one by observing how they shake their heads and roll their eyes and mutter things like ‘what the hell were we thinking’ when no one is paying any attention to them. Plus their skin is a weird blue/green color and they glow in the dark.

I could also tell you all about time travel and parallel dimensions and black holes and alien abduction if you want, but maybe we shouldn’t get ourselves into a state of information overload and blow up our craniums with short circuits and an overdose of b.s. Save those brain cells for thinking up new ways to obliterate the planet. That’ll show those aliens who’s in control.