Sitting At The Kitchen Table

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 06:03 AM

Eat your heart out, jimmy!!

Jerry

There's always 800..

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 06:04 AM

This thread has no topic, Ron. It's 99.4 100ths percent drift,as is.
Share a song about your cat, and I'll throw one on here too.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 12:47 PM

Thanks for the compliment, Ron. The lyrics I've posted on this thread are the only songs I've written in my life (with the exception of the opening number to a musical version of "The Scarlet Letter" involving a chorus line of tap-dancing Puritans). So puhleez do let us in on your cat parodies. This thread doesn't drift, it meanders in the manner of a long conversation.

Elmer

PS: to the tune of "That's Entertainment," sung in crescendo:

When a town
Finds a sinner among
And instead
Of having her hung,
Gives her an A
To wear over her lung,

(big flourish)

That's a scarlet letter!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Carly
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 05:48 PM

Hi, everyone. I've been sitting here quietly for a while, enjoying the company and the conversation. Thanks for inviting us in, Jerry. Ron's mention of his cat parodies brought back to my mind a cat song Dean and I came up with about the time we married,(over 20 years ago, now,)to the tune of "I Wish I had Someone to Love Me":

         Tonight is our last night together
         This cat and I surely must part
         This morning I found my best pillow
         All shredded and torn apart

      Chorus - I wanted a kitten to love me
            To cuddle and call him my own
            But now that he sleeps with me nightly
            I wish I was sleeping alone

There was more, but you get the idea. We had three cats living with us at the time; our bed was cozy, but sometimes crowded. It occurs to me that I don't believe I ever wrote a parody until I fell in with Dean, but together we produced quite a few. I wonder what this says about us, and our relationship? So, Ron, what were your cat parodies?

Carly Gewirz

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 06:19 PM

Hi, Carly:

Glad you came in to sit down for awhile and join in the conversation... yes indeed, cats can take control of your life. In the long run you live with your cats. They don't live with you.

I wrote a children's song, each verse for a cat I knew (or owned.)

This verse was for my cat, Jennie:

"Old lady Jennie,
She'll kiss you for a penny
If you're feeling sad and blue
She'll even take an I.O.U."

My other cat at that time was named Barney, who I sometimes called Beeswax:

"Old Uncle Beeswax
Never paid his income tax
Got a letter in the mail
Threw him in the county jail"

The song was a lot of fun, as all my friends with cats wanted a verse written for them...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 07:30 PM

Wow, well if people are actually interested in mine (some may have heard them)

Background--Lucy is not exactly svelte. She also has some other habits which may be familiar to cat households.



I'll be seeing you
In every closet full of bags
In every pile of dirty rags
I love the way your stomach sags
I'll see you on Jan's head again
And when the night is through
I'll be trying to read my book
But I'll be seeing you


The other one is to the tune of "The Old Dope Peddler" (Tom Lehrer)

As the dawn outside is breaking
Comes a feline everyone knows
It's our old friend Lucy
Making noise whereever she goes
Every morning you will hear her
As you lay snug in your bed
It's our old friend Lucy
Scratching rugs and clawing your head
She rips the carpet daily
She scratches on the stair
She makes the choice real easy
"Feed me now--or lose all your hair"
Here's a cure for too much sleep time
Here's our daily pal----and pest
It's our old friend Lucy
Our beloved pet------more or less

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 11:40 PM

Ron, those are hilarious!

"I'll be trying to read my book
But I'll be seeing you."

That particular cat has been making the rounds. Thanks for the laughs. Well done!

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 21 Jun 06 - 02:44 PM

I'm continually surprised by how perceptive animals are. When you are reading, how does a cat know to get between you and the book? If I were to stare into space, I don't think he would come get into my face.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Jun 06 - 03:51 PM

My current favorite comic strip is Get Fuzzy, which centers around a self-centered cat named Bucky. (are there any other kinds of cat?) Check Yahoo Comics for Get Fuzzy and check it out... the strip really cracks me up.

Jerry

I used to have these dreams about being chased by one thing or another and not being able to run. I'd finally wake up and discover my cats sleeping on my feet. I finally had to lock them out of the bedroom at night, just to get some sleep.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 21 Jun 06 - 09:40 PM

well, I missed it!   GOod for you, ELmer! you da man!    I am playing jazz tomorrow night! woo hoo! something out of the keys of G, D and A!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 21 Jun 06 - 09:44 PM

I think I'll play something in the keys of H, M, and O#. It's tough I know, but someone has to do it. It would be nice if the dogs didn't howl when I played, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Jun 06 - 09:49 PM

I locked my keys in the car once.. Does that count?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 21 Jun 06 - 10:12 PM

Gee it's amazing how fast conversation can move on (well, not really surprising if you can only join in once a day, I suppose)

But I wanted to thank Carly and everybody else for their cat songs and parodies (also thank Elmer for his kind words on mine)--and agree with Ebbie that cats do seem to know exactly where your focus of attention is. And if it's on a newspaper or book--well, there's no excuse for that. The cat knows your attention should be always on him or her--and will plant itself on your newspaper or book--thus attaining the goal. It works every time--you'll have to do something about the cat--and the chances are you'll pet it or feed it.

Totally brilliant.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 21 Jun 06 - 10:16 PM

Well, Jimmy, to stay true to character I shoulda taken post #699 and let it go at that, but aw shucks, that keyboard and "submit message" button were just glowing and beckoning in the dark of night...so Fudd bagged his wabbit just this once, metaphorically speaking.

Had a cat once who was scared of the sound of the dryer, the sound of the ironing board being opened, the vacuum cleaner (aren't they all), and the sound of running water. Judging by the cat, any attempt at housework was attempted cat abuse.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 21 Jun 06 - 10:22 PM

The keys of HMO, Rap? Sorry, but your request has been denied because of a key-existing condition.

E.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Jun 06 - 10:41 PM

Cat stories, ah yes..

My cat Barney was endlessly inventive. He and Jennie liked raw liver, and on occasion I'd buy a small amount and treat them. When Barney had his fill, I saw him walking into the living room on three legs, a piece of raw liver hooked on the claw of a front leg he was holding up in front of him. He walked over to one of my boats that was on the floor by the couch, looked me dea in the eye, and dropped the raw liver in my boot. And then took off like Hell.

From that point on, I always checked my boots before slipping my foot into them... like cowboys checking for scorpions. I was checking for raw liver.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 21 Jun 06 - 11:22 PM

hahahha That is so funny. You gotta wonder...

My cat was 11 years old when I got him (one year ago exactly - I got him on June 21)- he was a one-owner cat whose family had discovered that one of their adopted boys was allergic to him. My point is that archy (There had been a Mehitabel but she came to a fittingly bad end, they told me) was a well loved cat with habits and quirks and foibles of his oen.

One of his habits is to lie on one's lap and extend his paws up to one's face to sleep. It's a very confiding gesture that charms the socks off one.

However from time to time he has hooked his claws into my face. One night he did that- just enough to hurt - and I moved his feet away. He did it again and I told him NO, moved them again and held them together away from me. He growled and wrenched them away and up to my face and held on.

This time I said, NO, and with one finger rapped his nose. With a yowp he jumped off my lap and off the chair. I hadn't had him long and I thought, Oh, dear, he's not going to forgive that.

But he didn't take even one step away. He stood beside my chair thinking deeply. Suddenly he turned and leaped up to my lap and murmuring under his breath he rubbed his head under my chin. When I petted him, he lay down and reached up his paws. Like velvet, they were.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 22 Jun 06 - 04:03 PM

My late friend Steve had a cat named Sam. Sam was a tough old alleycat who got along with Steve quite well. He even got along with other people if they fed him.

Every morning Sam would jump on Steve's chest around 7 a.m. and lick Steve's face to get him up. One day, just to see what would happen, Steve didn't awaken but laid in bed watching Sam through half-closed eyes.

Sam rubbed his head against Steve's face. Same gently touched Steve's nose. Nothing.

Sam sat back on his haunches, apparently in thought, and then gave Steve's face a full-force, claws out, swipe.

Yes, Steve awakened.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 22 Jun 06 - 04:29 PM

Dog to cat: "My owner is sooo wonderful. He feeds me. He lets me sleep at the foot of his bed. He pets me. He brushes me. He calls me a good dog. He must be a god."

Cat to dog: "My owner is sooo wonderful. He feeds me. He lets me sleep at the foot of his bed. He pets me. He brushes me. He calls me a good kitty. I must be a god."

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 22 Jun 06 - 10:56 PM

Well, Jan is THOROUGHLY hooked on Shakira--she's bought 3 CD's by her--and I'll have to admit, she's damn addicting--with hypnotic rhythms--and even a good sense of humor

I never really knew she could dance like this
She makes a man want to speak Spanish
Como se llama, bonita, mi casa, su casa

Yesterday Mendelssohn--Fingal's Cave, today Shakira--and I'll have to say it's not as easy to type with Shakira.

And Jan is practicing the Shakira moves right next to me--this is some wild girl. The same one who had 3 discs replaced and 4 vertebrae fused-nothing slows her down

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 22 Jun 06 - 11:04 PM

Sorry for the dramatic change of topic

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Jun 06 - 10:24 AM

Hey, Ron:

Not sure this is the smoothest segue from your last couple of posts, but I'm sitting here paying bills and listening to Thelonius Monk. My most recent musical project is a three CD sedt of my favorite tracks by my favorite jazz pianists. It's not a comprehensive overview of jazz piano (as my five CD set of rhythm and blues groups was.) There are some noticeable absences, like Art Tatum, Bud Powell, Errol Garner, and George Shearing, and minimal representatition by Oscar Peterson. Just my personal tastes. It's heavy on some of my favorites... well-known people like Dave Brubeck and Thelonius Monk and a wonderful cut with Count Basie and John Coltrane. But heavier still on Gene Harris, Claude Williamson, Marian McPartland, Barbara Caroll and Cyrus Chestnut. Like everyone else, my favorite music is scattered around on endless CDs. I love to bring them all together so that I can enjoy them...

and then share them...

I've discovered that when Elmer Fudd isn't hunting Bugs Bunny, he likes to listen to jazz. Soothes his nerves.

Jerr

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 23 Jun 06 - 11:17 AM

Glad to hear that Jan is doing so well again, Ron. I tell people that the really hard times are prepayment on into the future. She - and you - are bound to have some really great years coming up.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 23 Jun 06 - 09:47 PM

This is turning into what table conversation is really like--several different topics at once.

Hey Ebbie-what's the weather like these days up there? (And thanks for your words about Jan's health).

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 01:20 AM

Ron, glad Jan is up and shimmying.

Ebbie, I hope the weather is fine and your cat is still carressing your face. There's nothing like kitty love.

Jerry, jazz or no, my nerves have been shot since about 1956. But "Kind of Blue" helps matters. Or Ella or Sassy crooning sweet and lowdown in my li'l ear.

Good night one and all,

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 03:51 AM

Well, Juneau is in a temperate rain forest so rain and mist is not only expected but essential. However, we are doing some really odd things- In March our 'Taku Winds' (really strong, clear cold winds) lasted 6 days, when about 3 days is the norm, then in April we had some really hot weather (Not hot for 'down south', like Minnesota but hot for us) that took the temperatures into the mid70s and then we veered into lots and lots of rain, heavy rain instead of the mist that is most common.

And now not only is it wet but it's chilly. The highs have been right at 60, the lows at 45 to 50. This is not only the middle of summer but we are still in what normally is our driest weather. We always say that the July 4th is hot and July 5th brings rain. We'll see.

Yes, ol' archy is fine. I enjoy the feller.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 03:15 PM

Working day shift, here at the kitchen table. Elmer, Ebbie and Ron work the graveyard shift.

Over here, it's pouring like crazy and has been all day. We had a wonderful weekend planned (all out doors) and everything is cancelled. Tonight, Ruth, Joe (our Best Man when we got married and the Gospel Messengers bass singer) and I were going to hear the 15 year old jazz pianist who performed with the male chorus I sing in. He was going to do a concert with his quartet, but it's been cancelled because of the rain. It's kinda sweet that he's doing full concerts with his quartet but isn't old enough to drive.

Tomorrow is Derby Day, here in Derby. It's and all afternoon an evening event in and around the town square, with music, food, music, food, crafts, and food. We lived here 4 years and this was the first time that we were free to go to it. Now, everything has been cancelled but the boat races..

So what's a fella to do? put on some music, burn some CDs for friends, have a leisurely dinner with my beautiful wife, put on a movie and have a romantic evening.

So, who's complaining? Sounds great to me... all the pleasures of life without having to leave your home...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 03:37 PM

Ok, here is another topic for the mix.

I've been having a recurring bad dream that jolts me out of
sleep in the morning. It is similar to those nightmares about missing a final
exam in school, and the stress is wearing on me.
It relates to my job - lots of contract paperwork, forms, etc., that have to be
filled out correctly for each customer I work with and then sent in to the
publisher I work for by Fed Ex every Friday afternoon. Each week's orders
that I've sold get sent at the end of the week, and all forms must be done
to the letter or they get rejected. So far, I've not had a single rejection
after 6 months of work and about 100 contracts, even though my co-workers have....
BUT in spite of telling myself positive thoughts about how everything is
fine and nothing is left undone, I have this anxiety nightmare every morning
before I wake that SOMETHING didn't get filled out... there's a form
UNDONE - yikes, I've not sent in paperwork that was supposed to be
finished! In the dream, it is a mystery form that doesn't really exist and
I actually feel disoriented when I wake up figuring out if there is really
a form I forgot or one in my imagination.
We are one week away from a deadline for an annual issue publication
and I know this is part of my anxiety.

Anyone have a way to stop a dream like this? I've been doing self hypnosis
before I go to sleep hoping that the positive will be implanted in my head
and the stress will stop, but to no avail.

Anyone ever go to a hypnotist for therapy?

Good news, I moved the pond fish and plants from inside the house
out to the little pond and turned on the pump/waterfall. That was nice
to get done today. Gorgeous weather. I love June, my favorite month
here. The cold is gone, it isn't too hot, and everything is lush and green.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 04:20 PM

Hey, Alice:

Recurring dreams.... eccchhh!! Like you, I've had ones that kept coming back for years. Why are recurring dreams always nightmares? I'd say that if you at some point can remove yourself from the situtation that is causing all the stress that the dreams will stop. If doesn't seem to work that way... or at least the don't stop anywhere near fast enough.

When I was at Columbia University a couple of centuries ago, I dropped out of a German class after the first few weeks. I had decided not to complete my Doctorate, and was just filling out a teaching assistant commitment that I'd made until the end of the year. It made all the sense in the world to drop the class. It was Scientific German (I'd already had two years of German) and I had no intention of continuing in the profession I was majoring in. But, for several years after I had this disturbing dream that I was in the class and going to a final exam, with no possibility of passing it. In my dream, I was concerned about how an "F" would look on my transcript (which made zero sense as I had moved on, had a wonderful, fulfilling job and no need for a college transcript.) Some of these fears seem to be so deeply ingrained in us that it takes a long time for them to finally subside.

Actually, I probably wasn't afraid of failing the German test. It was probably a deep-seated fear of brocolli.

Sorry I can't give any sensible advice. I don't know if hypnosis can affect recurring dreams or not..

Have you considered cutting down on your brocolli?

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 04:32 PM

Jerry, I've had EXACTLY that type of college nightmare, and even in my 50's it still comes back!
The dream is that I was enrolled in a class that I either forgot to go to or didn't know about the exam and will be getting an F on my transcript!
Weird how our high achieving personalities can cause us so much stress.

I find this job dream to be very much like the final exam/forgotten class nightmare. I want to do this job perfectly, but of course perfection is impossible. When the publication/contract deadline for the Bozeman directory is over, I'll be moving on to work on the Butte and Billings directories, which have months ahead before their deadline. Then, I'll start up again working on the following year's issue of Bozeman the end of this year when Butte and Billings finish. A cycle of annual books that will each build up to a stressful deadline. Did I mention I like my job? ;-) www.phonedir.com

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 06:52 PM

Hi, Alice:

Bozeman, Butte and Billings? Maybe when you finish the B's you can move on to the "C's."

Yeah, there is something about the built-in pressure to succeed, based on the expectations of others. When I was at Columbia University, I was completely lost. I was the only one who didn't have a clear idea of what I should do with my life. Of course, no one agreed with anyone else. I had just started writing songs, and the very first reasonably serious song I wrote was called Rambling On My Mind. I didn't say that it was original... (alright, so it was trite..) I don't remember the whole song but a couple of lines really apply to what we're talking about:

"They said I had a great career
They planned my life for me."

The nice thing about having some years on you is that you reach the point where you can say to others (and yourself,) "This is about as good as I'm going to get. Sorry if I've disappointed you, but it was your dream, not mine."

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 07:32 PM

Yes, but with the years on me..... why am I having that kind of nightmare again?

I just met last week with the top executive who is our district manager (my boss's boss). She is a grandmotherly type, as it turned out, and no pressure at all. Being the end of the canvass for this directory, she was here to meet with staff and help plan for the next one. I'm obviously the one who is being the hard taskmaster on myself about getting everything to be perfect. I think because I can design ads myself, which is not what most reps can do, I have that added burden of wanting it to look great, not just getting the contract done. Yeah, overachieving yet again.
When I was in college, I knew what I wanted to do. I started in fine art and finished in fine art, no deviation. THEN I found the art world was nothing like art school "painted" it to be.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 07:50 PM

Amazing how many sites come up when you google "nightmares and final exam".

Found this idea to stop repetitive bad dreams.
-----
The raw emotions of repetitive, intrusive nightmares can be "tamed" by a simple, easily learned technique called Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT). If you have multiple recurring nightmares, select just one for the IRT process and use the process every night until the nightmare has been resolved; when that nightmare has been resolved, repeat the process for other nightmares.

1.Write out the text of the nightmare. Tell the story, no matter how frightening, in as much detail as you can remember.
 
2. Create a new ending for the nightmare story and write it out. Be careful, however, to make the new ending peaceful. Remember that the nightmare is grounded in emotions such as raw anger that have been provoked by a trauma. The point of a new ending is to "tame" the emotions, not merely vent them in violence and revenge.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 07:52 PM

Wow. Found more on that same page.

---------
Sometimes people complain of having disturbing dreams with unpleasant images, despite leading a seemingly peaceful waking life. And so they wonder, "What is my unconscious mind trying to tell me?"

There can be several reasons for such dreams.

First, the dreams could be unconscious advice. Maybe in some way you are betraying yourself, forgetting something, or not fulfilling a potential. For example, persons on the edge of a midlife career change may have dreams about being in school and searching for a missing classroom, or they may find themselves in a class about to take a final exam while realizing that they completely forgot to attend the class all year. Thus the feeling of panic in the dream points to the real feeling of panic in their current life about the failure of their present career.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 07:58 PM

I think this dream of the final exam for a class you haven't attended must be extremely common.
We worry about failing.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 08:33 PM

Heck, I have that dream all the time. Even now, years and years out of school. Usually I want to go to see the teacher of the class I haven't attended only his or her office door is bricked up, or I wander through the building (it's the same as it was when I was in college, not as it is now) and can't find it.

I figure that it's just my unconsious mind working something out. I have other recurring dreams, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: freda underhill
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 08:42 PM

Alice

For over 15 years I had occasionaly recurring dreams about an enormous black hairy legged spider leaping down on me from the ceiling while i slept. I would wake up terrified, unable to breathe, and made my ex check the sheets, bed, blankets and room for a spider before going back to sleep. The dreams were very vivid, one time i was so frightened i jumped out of the way, right on top of him, and refused to move. He had to turn around to get me off and sprained his back!!

Strangely, after a while the dream changed and I had three when the spider was in a cupboard drawer looking at me. In the last one, I looked back at it and closed the drawer. I haven't had one now for nearly a decade, and hope that was the last!!

freda

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 08:57 PM

My recurring nightmares through like have had several themes.
The first one I can remember from the time before I was 5 years old. I would wake in the morning with the image of an oval, young, pale asian woman's face (I'd never met anyone asian until years later) and as I saw it in my mind's eye, it would age like a time lapse film, turning old and wrinkled. At the same time, I would get this unique taste/smell that went with the image. I was too young to talk about the dream at that time.

Since then it's been the school/exam nightmare.
Nazis executing me after I've tried to hide, but they track me down.
Mafia hit men executing me after I've tried to escape from them.
During my brother's time in VietNam, being in the midst of battles there in my dreams.

The arms of Morpheus can be a scary place indeed.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 09:08 PM

My mother had a recurring dream for years- of a wizened little man who peered at her from around corners wherever she went. Finally one night she "shot" him, went over and picked him up and he had shrunk to a white handkerchief with a bullet hole in it.

She said she never dreamt about him again.

Alice, your five-years-old dream sounds like a bleedthrough blast-from-the-past.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 09:34 PM

When I was very young, around six or seven, I'd have a dream in which perspective was out of whack. Close things were small, distant things were large, and even one finger would be larger than its neighbor. Very strange, but eventually it went away.

Fast forward to about 1985 and my eyesight was corrected to a close to 20/20 as possible. And again comes The Dream....

When I was six or seven I started to wear glasses, which corrected my vision as much as was considered possible (I had uncorrected amblyopia and one eye is far stronger than the other -- in fact, I'm both nearsighted and farsighted). When the ophthmalogist asked my in the mid-80s if I'd like to try for near 20/20 correction (and he explained the hazards to me), well, it was back to corrected vision and back to The Dream!

As far as I can tell, in both cases my brain was opening up new pathways for seeing AND for coping with what I was seeing. The brain is a wonderful thing indeed.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 09:43 PM

I just made a list of all the forms that need to be filled out in my job, six for each order. I checked off each one DONE, DONE, DONE, and hopefully this will set my brain at ease. I think I'll go over this checklist right before I go to sleep at night and see if it makes the nightmare go away.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Jun 06 - 12:31 AM

The flip side of all of this is that I've had some disturbing, recurring dreams that finally stopped, and I've also had some (now that I think of it) that were fascinating and enjoyable. I've also had major sections of new songs come in dreams. Without That Night, which is the tile of our Gospel Messengers came to me in a dream (which in that case was a nightmare that has never recurred.) I also dream in technicolor (which is apparently uncommon among men.)

My guess is that, as we slowly work out deep-seated problems in our lives, the dreams dry up for lack of anxiety. That's kinda the reverse of psychotherapy where you try to understand your dreams so that you can work things out in your waking life. I notice that I rarely have dreams about getting beaten up any more. One thing that I've done is to go back into dreams immediately after waking and rewrite the ending. I've also gone back into a dream-state seeking additional lines or verses to songs that began in a dream. That's my kinda song writing... Man, I could do that in my sleep..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Alice
Date: 25 Jun 06 - 10:22 AM

The re -written script technique worked!
I wrote down a different, positive ending to my dream, and read it over a few times before I went to sleep. No nightmare!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Jun 06 - 12:50 PM

A waking hours concept... I heard an intersting comparison in the sermon at church this morning (which relates to believers, and non-believers equally.) The comparison was between a thermometer and a thermostat. I must say, I've never reflected at length on the difference between the two, or how it might relate to the way that I want to live my life. The basic difference is between being passive and being active. A thermometer tells you what the temperature is. It's of no use in changing the temperature. It just tells you whether you're comfortable or uncomfortable. A thermostat tells you what the temperature is and allows you to change it. A thermometer is passive and a thermostat is active. I want to be a thermostat.

Turn on the news and it's a thermomometer. It tells you what's going on in the world but rarely gives you any direction as to how you can change it. I know a lot of people who are thermometers, too. They're quick to point out what's wrong with the world (and everyone else in it) but they don't do anything to change it. Or themselves.

Mudcat at it's best has a little bit of thermostat to it. That's what keeps me coming back.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: GUEST,Cookieless Rapaire
Date: 25 Jun 06 - 02:00 PM

No, Jerry. Your own body tells you if you're comfortable or uncomfortable. A thermometer simply tells you that you might find it comfortable or uncomfortable.

For example, I'm comfortable with a long-sleeved shirt in temperatures that cause my wife to wear a coat. A thermometer simply provides data.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Jun 06 - 02:37 PM

You're right, cookieless Rap:

The principle still applies, however...

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 Jun 06 - 02:49 PM

Oh, sure. I'm just a pedant, that's all.

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Jun 06 - 09:05 AM

When I was walking in the mall the other day, I saw a surly looking young man walking toward me, clutching his crotch. Black t-shirt... pants down to his butt crack. For some reason, I thought that it was funny. When I was a little boy, I'd always hold off until the last minute before going to the bathroom. There was always something far more interesting to do. And I, like so many other little boys, would clutch my (dare I say it?) penis to keep from losing control. When a little boy does that, the Mother always asks dutifully, "Do you have to go to the bathroom?" and little boys invariable release their grip momentarily and say, "No... not me."

Now, it's considered cool for young men to walk around clutching their crotch.

As the young man passed me, I was tempted to ask him "Do you have to go tinkle?," but he was bigger than me and looked like he was already in a nasty mood.

Or maybe I could have said, "They sell Depends (adult diapers) at the pharmacy"...

Some thoughts are better left unspoken. But around a kitchen table, it's alright..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ebbie
Date: 26 Jun 06 - 11:12 AM

I haven't seen anything to that extent, Jerry, but I suspect that I would be tempted to giggle.

Speaking of low, low trousers, I recently watched a teen run up the street ahead of me, his left hand clutching his pants and lifting them so that he could run. How cool is that!

Subject: RE: BS: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 26 Jun 06 - 11:46 AM

Then there are the shaved heads. I call it "The Eunuch Look."