Sabbaath Thoughts

It’s Sunday and so why not talk about religion on the Sabbath? 

I think about the birth of Christianity, the message of Jesus, the incredibly evangelizing of Paul and the other apostles and then juxtaposition it with the record of Christianity through the ages.  Yesterday I listened to a Reverend from South Carolina who asked how those elected to govern would swear on the Bible to serve their people but then go on to tear down the existing social safety nets while they themselves enjoyed health care among other perks free, paid for by the very taxpayers they were disenfranchising, revoking Obama care and so on; a question I have asked many times myself. I always wondered what the Popes were thinking when they started up the various Crusades, how was that following the message of Jesus who preached Love, Peace and Humbleness? A couple of days ago I flicked the channel and listened for a few minutes as some evangelicals vehemently encouraged their flock to vote Republican in order to save the country from the ravenous Left!  I was considerably surprised to hear such out and out politicking on a religious show; how naïve was I to think that “wasn’t done”?

So here’s what I am thinking about religion in general and evangelicals in particular. You get a bad rap from me, your hands are bloody and I am pretty sure that Jesus won’t recognizing the things you preach or stand for now would he in any way endorse any politician or any form of violence. I am pretty sure that Jesus would not think owning an AK15 is in line with peaceable thinking. I know he said that God sees every sparrow fall from its nest so He would not like it if people go around shooting squirrels just for the hell of it. In other words true Christians don’t shoot people or animals.

Truly spiritual people of any religious stripe know that the meaning of being one with God (or the Universe) is a peaceful relationship. Not only are you at one with God but you are at one with yourself and your fellow human beings. You have empathy for others, you know that you must keep the door open for others (literally and figuratively), you must be generous, humble, kind, grateful and forgiving. There must be love amongst you.

And it is to last for the rest of the week, not just while sitting in church of a Sunday.

God be with you.  Namaste.

Am I Out to Lunch?

When I was in Grade 9 our history that you was British History.  I became especially enthralled with the Tudor era and read a great deal on Henry VIII and his 6 wives.  We learned about the rules of wedlock through Henry’s machinations to get his divorce from Catherine of Aragon, his dead brother’s wife.

          So maybe I am a little old fashioned by I have a huge problem with The Young & Ridiculous’s latest story line with Victor, currently having an affair with his ex-daughter-in-law (twice over).  Granted, this is a stupid soap opera but seriously am I the only way completely repulsed by this type of story?  I understand that the sister soap The Bold & the Beautiful has had even more wildly incestuous relationships on the show. 

          I have boycotted Y&R several times in the past over storylines but I think I am going to have to call it quits for good this time.

Living Life's Dream

I was reading someone’s blog the other day and they were warning a graduating class that it was all downhill from the day of their commencement.  I was a little perturbed by the things he was saying and wondering if the 20 something’s were going home to kill themselves.  But one piece of advice was really worth listening to and that was “do what you love to do” and it won’t feel like work.  How many of us actually get to do that though.  I think most of us make do with what we can find, perhaps make it into a real career but still, it isn’t what we dreamt about doing when we were in high school and making our plans for the rest of our life.

       It’s hard to believe that I am approaching 60 and still feel like there are a lot of years stretching ahead of me.  There are still plenty of things that I want to do with my life but I am wise enough to know that now it is a time for carpe diem; there is no wisdom in waiting longer to do the things I want to do.  Having this attitude can be a dangerous thing because it puts me in the mood to say “fuddle duddle” if someone pushes too hard and that just isn’t smart.  Fortunately for me, I’ve developed the habit of not answering emails that disturb me; instead I get up from my chair and walk around the floor, the building or even the block, depending on how angry I get.  Again, fortunately, this hardly ever happens anymore because I realize that I am not in control of the situation.  Managing reactions is a lifetime process of learning and if you happen to be an INFJ type personality you will find you have some extra challenges in modifying your behaviour. (we “hold deep convictions about the weightier matters of life”)

       My advice, hold on to your dreams throughout your life and eventually they will come true.

I was reading someone’s blog the other day and they were warning a graduating class that it was all downhill from the day of their commencement.  I was a little perturbed by the things he was saying and wondering if the 20 something’s were going home to kill themselves.  But one piece of advice was really worth listening to and that was “do what you love to do” and it won’t feel like work.  How many of us actually get to do that though.  I think most of us make do with what we can find, perhaps make it into a real career but still, it isn’t what we dreamt about doing when we were in high school and making our plans for the rest of our life.

       It’s hard to believe that I am approaching 60 and still feel like there are a lot of years stretching ahead of me.  There are still plenty of things that I want to do with my life but I am wise enough to know that now it is a time for carpe diem; there is no wisdom in waiting longer to do the things I want to do.  Having this attitude can be a dangerous thing because it puts me in the mood to say “fuddle duddle” if someone pushes too hard and that just isn’t smart.  Fortunately for me, I’ve developed the habit of not answering emails that disturb me; instead I get up from my chair and walk around the floor, the building or even the block, depending on how angry I get.  Again, fortunately, this hardly ever happens anymore because I realize that I am not in control of the situation.  Managing reactions is a lifetime process of learning and if you happen to be an INFJ type personality you will find you have some extra challenges in modifying your behaviour. (we “hold deep convictions about the weightier matters of life”)

       My advice, hold on to your dreams throughout your life and eventually they will come true.

Playing with Dolls

My mother comments when we go into department stores’ toy sections that there are hardly any baby dolls.  It’s true there are not very many choices in baby dolls anymore.  I don’t think children really play with dolls the way we did when we were little and before the invention of Barbie. 

            I wonder if kids don’t know how to play Mommy because their mothers go to work?  My mother can tell you the story of me playing House.  I would stand in the middle of the room and swing my hips like fury while I whisked with an imaginary bowl and beater.  I was making whipped cream, I said.  My mother laughed as she realized that she must have been standing just like that in the kitchen while she used the hand held mixer (no electric appliances back then) while she beat up her cream or eggs.  I had an eagle eye for watching all her moves around the house and I imitated every one of them.

            Classic Sanne.  Hands on hips, one hand raises and points, shaking finger at the culprit.

            “You better smarten up, or else.”

            When I had to watch over my siblings I would march into the kitchen and simply shake the drawer with the wooden spoon in it and all would fall to submission (except John).  I didn`t even have to take out the wooden spoon, I could hear Peter and Erik flying into their bunk beds.

            My dolls were even more docile, I never had to turn them over my knee to spank them.  I usually just liked to change their clothes and then lay them in the little wooden apple crate that was turned into a bed (remember when apples came in those wooden crates with the handle).  Then I would read them a story from one of the little Hans Christian Andersen booklets that we got one Christmas.  It even had a little cardboard box made like a book shelf so we could put the booklets neatly away.

            In the summertime we mostly played outside.  There was an ancient weeping willow tree in the corner of our backyard but belonged to the Rolstons.  We used to play under that tree all summer long and Little Susan would bring out all her baby dolls and real crib and real high chair and all the clothes.  Goodness but she had a lot of clothes.  Mrs. Rolston’s friend back in Nova Scotia would make all kinds of dolls clothes so Susan always came back from her summer vacation with new clothes for her dolls.  My mother was too busy making clothes for real live to children to have much time to make doll clothes but she did once in a while.  I had some nice knit baby outfits for my Mary.  Susan and I would play House for hours. 

            Playing dolls was a quiet game but we had hours of fun.  I hardly remember what we would say when we played house.  I just remember having a good time.

Mourning All My Children

Yesterday was the last episode of All My Children which ended as a cliffhanger. I thought that was perfect because the storyline leading up to the end was a bit sappy with the nasty character of Dr. David bringing back characters who had been dead for years – Dixie and Stuart. Zach’s body had never been recovered so we could let that one go. But there were implications that Babe might be alive, they never resolved that one. I liked the beginning where they blended old and new clips of the families but they didn’t do enough. They should have had a two hour finale and brought back everyone; Tara and Phil and her kids Charlie and Kate; Donna and Chuck, Kelly and Linc, Ellen and Mark with Devon and her kid.

Oh well, it’s over now and I can concentrate on One Life to Live which will end in January. It has more time to come up with a better ending though I am not impressed with how they’ve handled the double Todd storyline, knocking off the one Todd a.k.a. Victor was not good. Now what they should do is bring Dr. David to Llanview so he can raise Victor from the dead – it isn’t like that hasn’t happened already in Llanview!

They are putting a cooking show on called The Chew to replace All My Children. What is daytime television going to be like without soap operas? I can hardly believe that I am lamenting soap operas but the truth is I kind of enjoy them as escapist fare. There have been some really excellent storylines through the years where the soaps made ground breaking history. Soaps were the first shows to have integrated marriages, talk about cancer, talk about teen homosexuality to name a few. All My Children had the first legal abortion story as well as the first lesbian story in daytime TV. One Life to Live had the first gay teen storyline and was also the first show to talk about “passing” as white. That was Carla’s storyline when One Life to Live was still fairly new.

In the beginning soap operas were relatively normal shows about normal people, a lot of working class people that the audience could relate to. Over the years the storylines have gotten really ridiculous, first because actors who wanted off the show were killed off and then when they wanted to come back on the show they’d have to create a miracle cure or some other unbelievable coming back to life story. From there it was just one more step into crazy land. The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful (same producers and writers) haven’t gone to that extreme. Instead they have the same characters of about 8 people just sleep until the incest is too sickening to endure. I do not understand how these 2 shows survive when my own soaps have much better stories and characters. They at least bring in new characters all the time so people aren’t sleeping with their sisters or nieces (or daughters).

It’s the end of an era when Erica Kane walked across the room – oh, before that, I screamed with laughter when Jack turned from the door and said “Frankly Erica, I don’t give a damn . . . “ a la Rhett Butler. Too, too funny. I bet he’s wanted to do that for years! Walt Wiley, you had the perfect ending!

Cliff hanger . . . .

All My Children and One Life to Live

GOODBYE

PINEVALLEY, LLANVIEW

& DENISENS THEREOF

Yesterday was a very sad day for me as I was driving home from work. I heard on the radio that All My Children had been cancelled and later that evening I watched Entertainment Tonight and discovered that One Life to Live had also been cancelled. For those not in the know, these are 2 soap operas that have been on since the late 1960’s. I’ve watched OLTL since I was 16 years old. The way I got hooked on it was simply that I would watch the tale end of OLTL as I was waiting for Dark Shadows (a spooky soap) to come on during the summer holidays. There happened to be a storyline going on at that time where Viki Lord had developed a split personality as Nicki Smith and it was a fascinating concept for me.

I actually watched AMC without knowing it way back when it was first launch. The big love story was Phil and Tara, and Erika (Susan Lucci) was the little nymphette spoiling the love story! Back then there were clear cut heroines and villainesses after the same hunky guys. Now all we will be left with is Y&R and Victor Newman (I want to kill myself). LOL

It’s the end of an era in real soap operas, children of Agnes Nixon probably the greatest soap writer of all time. A really sad day. I am going to miss Tad, Erika, Jack and all the other children on that soap. As for OLTL I have never reconciled myself to Viki and Clint breaking up over that stupid Colonel nor changing Clint’s character to that of a bad guy. I always adored Dorian and David’s storylines, they were hilarious together. And my 4 favorite love stories on that show – Viki & Clint, Tina and Cord, Gabrielle and Max and then Max and Luna. I could never understand why the killed of Luna as she was a very unique character.

And that is why the soaps have been dying. They have changed the writers and producers so often, people who have not followed the stories and changed them up so badly that viewers have tuned out. OLTL had a great couple in Bo and Nora and then a producer came along who had worked with Nora on another show and decided her love interest on that show had to be moved over to OLTL. Killed that story to pieces and it took 10 years to get her back with Bo. And now they are shutting them down. As for AMC, when they killed off Dixie for good (she had been dead a couple of time already) they destroyed more viewership. Dixie and Tad were my all time favourite super couple.

There won’t be anything to watch in the afternoons when I am sick with a cold or flu. I won’t be watching a food show or a lifestyle show. Boring.

A sad day indeed.

Good bye Pine Valley and Llanview. I shall miss you!