Monthly Archive:: July 2014

1. First and Middle name Elisabeth Anne (named after both grandmothers)
2. Age 40
3. Lucky number and why 30..I was born on the 30th, so was two of my nieces. 30 dollars is good to have..
4. Kids (names and ages) one daughter, Cate Clemeaux (pronounce Clahh-Moe) born June 20,2009
5. What is your go-to online handle and why? I’ve always studied Queens and well, the most famous Queens are named Elizabeth so…
6. Married? his/her name and how long have you been together?  Husband-Frank. started dating 19998, married since 2001
7. Siblings? tell us  3 Brothers, Richard, Ryan and Joshua (all younger)
8. Aunt/Uncle? brag.. Aunt to 4 nieces and 3 nephews. Also a gaggle of Godchildren
9. Career Registrar at local hospital
10. Nickname Honey, Liz, Dink, Nona, Nonie, Queenie
11. Favorite band/singer favorite band is Def Leppard (saw them 13 times in concert and met them in 2002) I also love Queen, Heart, Prince, Pink and Sarah Brightman
12. Favorite song Torn to Shreds by Def Leppard. Under pressure by Queen, Hallelujah sung by Canadian Tenors. Who Knew by Pink. Show me how to love you by Sarah Brightman
13. Tattoos? how many/of what/why?  a crown on my left forearm with my daughter’s name on it (because she is MY queen) many more I’d like to get
14. Favorite time of day I always enjoyed twilight, after dinner but before bed.
15. What the hell do you look like? 5’8″ red hair and blue eyes, a ton of freckles
16. What phrase/song lyric/quote really speaks to you Rise and Rise again, until lambs become lions. “Stand before the Lord of Song with nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah” Walk with the angels
17. What is the biggest struggle in your life having anxiety attacks
18. Name the 3 best moments in your life 1. birth of my daughter 2. getting married 3. meeting Def Leppard
19. Name the 3 worst moments in your life 1. losing my dad 2. telling my beloved godchildren their father was dead 3. being sexually assaulted by a man I knew
20. What character flaw in other people do you detest the most One uppers. People who listen to your stories and always have a ‘better’ story or accomplishment.
21. What was the single thing about becoming a parent that surprised you the most? How unbelievably brave it makes you. I hate confrontation but I would kill for my kid if she was in danger.
22. Can you spot crazy in others immediately? how? You can usually spot crazy by how much they say to you upon meeting them. I met a girl once, who was dating a friend of mine. Within 5 minutes of meeting she was telling me about an abortion her ex-husband forced her to have. I was like ‘Who the fuck are you again?’ oh yeah, You’re Crazy!
23. What causes you to block other people on social media (i.e. Facebook/Twitter/instagram etc) I block people who post their tragedies for attention, or act like ‘internet panhandlers’ (here’s my amazon wish list you guise!) bullies, the usual snarky fucks that don’t bring the funny
24. 5 famous dead people are coming to dinner, who are they? Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth the First, Freddie Mercury, Jacquetta Woodville, King Edward I
25. Can you sing? No
26. What do you consider your talents?  I like to think that I’m funny and I’m good at making people laugh, pep talks, comforting people.
27. Name 3 major fears Something happening to my daughter or my family. Blood and Praying mantis
28. Who is your best friend? Erica, since we were 12 and still going strong
29. Favorite animal and why I love lions and horses because of the majestic beauty and power
30. Most prized possession an inherited ring I got from my parents courtship, he gave my mother a ‘promise ring’
31. Favorite movie(s) Gladiator, Elizabeth, anne of a thousand days, Skyfall, Goodfellas, Casino, Elizabeth the Virgin Queen, Henry VIII
32. If I caught you with your nose in a book, what kind is it? historical fiction
33. Favorite book Lady of the Rivers by Phillipa Gregory
34. Favorite color Pink
35. First heartbreak Peter Ruddell told me when I was 12, that he didn’t like me ‘that way’
36. That one friend you wished you still talked to My friend Jessica, she fell into drugs and I had to cut ties with her. I still miss her
37. If you could live anywhere in the world…where? England
38. (for married women) did you keep your wedding gown? No
39. Do you feel online friendships are ‘real’ friendships?  I do, because I actually have to work at them with texting, tweeting and messaging.
40. do you believe in Karma? I do
41. Naps? Every Saturday afternoon
42. The celebrity you hate with the heat of a thousand suns? Leann Rimes
43. If you could visit any period in history, when and where? 1500’s in England
44. Coffin or cremated? Cremated
45. What is your earliest memory? about 3, playing out back of our house with the little boy that lived across the driveway
46. What song can make you cry? Amazing Grace by the Celtic Women
47. What store do you like your gift certificates from? Target!
48. Who really makes you laugh? my husband and my brother Joshua. A lot of my twitter followers make me laugh really hard. Ron Bennington
49. Have you ever met anyone famous? Do tell… I met Def Leppard and got a kiss from Phil Collen their guitarist. I got a Retweet on twitter from Russell Crowe
50. <insert random question of your own and answer it>
51. My random question “Favorite swear word” Shithead and ‘What the high blue fuck”

Cheers

~QE

Here we go again with the social media thing…..ugh.

 

A person I know put up on a social media site a picture of herself, looking beautiful, and not in the ‘I’m her friend and I think she’s beautiful’ type of way. I mean she’s gorgeous. She’s healthy and fit, in no way over weight, everything about her screamed loveliness. Her caption ‘Ate a salad because y’know….fat’

I blinked. If she was fat, I shudder to think of what I must look like. In fat shaming herself, she inadvertently fat shamed me. I have an actual weight issue. I am setting things in motion to correct this problem. But since I have a daughter, I have decided to not shame my body, regardless of what I think, out loud. I don’t comment to her, on what I think about my body. My daughter tells me I’m beautiful and that my ‘big’ butt is beautiful too. Her 5 year old mind is simple in it’s meaning of the word ‘big’. It’s not a slander it’s a compliment. Because in her thinking ‘having big toys is good, having a big cookie is good, so having a big butt is awesome!!” So me and my beautiful big butt are enjoying the praises of my daughter. She’s not permitted to use words like ‘fat’ or ‘ugly’ because those words do not apply to anyone we know or love, ourselves included. I’m trying to instill a good body image and the idea that she can love her body, regardless of what she thinks it’s flaws are, as long as she remains healthy; which I (and my husband) demonstrate by trying to eat healthy and going to the doctors. My weight issues are my own and I’m dealing with them on my own.

 

My friend’s post got me to thinking that it amazes me how many women (and sometimes men) troll ourselves. I’ve seen more then one woman put up a picture and caption it with ‘ugly’ then sit back and wait for all the disagreements to come pouring in. As if ‘owning’ their faults takes the argument out of anyone who might comment something negative. The adolescent mentality of ‘I-already-said-I-was-ugly’ is just so ridiculous. How is this improving our self esteem? Why do we view people we love with rose colored glasses but not ourselves? A shame really. I’m guilty of it too. I cringe when I try on a shirt that accentuates rather then hides my tummy, but my daughter says ‘You look so pretty mommy!” and then my mother agrees with her.

In my quest to improve my physical appearance, I think I’ve started to love myself at every size I’ve been. I don’t put up pictures and label myself as ugly or fat because my best friend wouldn’t do that to me so why should I? And if people on social media want to mock my appearance, well they can fuck right off. I like myself. I’m working hard to improve things I don’t like and learning to love all of me. And besides, my daughter is right, my big butt is awesome! So listen up people, STOP TROLLING YOURSELVES!

 

Cheers

~QE

 

Editor’s Note: I only blog about once every 3 months, which is not good practice for a blog, but it was necessary for a note about Anthony Cumia, who was recently fired from Sirius XM.  When you’ve tuned in for many years routinely to these guys, you get a one-sided connection to these voices on the radio.  I really enjoyed The Opie and Anthony Show and wish Opie, Anthony and Jim the best!!! 

Thank You AND MY BLAH BLAH BLAH

Thanks Anthony Cumia for the laughs you have given me over the last few years.

I sigh heavily at the thought of just rehashing what has happened and what my take on it is, it clearly doesn’t matter.

Minds don’t get changed, but I know in my heart, that I support the honesty and the laughs you’ve given me, a housewife with 3 kids and ear buds.  I’m a grown woman that can turn off the radio when I hear a racist/sexist rant, and I have.  I believe in open dialog, even with opinions that are opposite of mine.

In all honesty, I can’t stand the hate that spews from anyone.  I want a kind gentle world, I have 3 angels I’m raising.. (that’s supposed to elicit nausea by the way) but guess what, this is not what we live in. And those 3 pumpkins will be dealing with the negative and the insecurities of others, and the baggage of those with hurt and pain.  When people are at their lowest they say some pretty despicable things, that’s life.  People are human. They make mistakes.  Why condemn them, when we should seek to understand, and become part of the conversation, and maybe look at the looming big issue?  If you start advocating for censorship even “indirectly” you start denying the opportunity for discussion and change.

There will always be hate in the world, unfortunately but I TRULY TRULY believe that laughter is so powerful that it is a door to understanding. My early morning listening ritual of O&A before the kids wake up made me laugh so many days.  It was right before (usually) anyone could get cranky, and the brutal honesty is something so different than what you got on housewife TV.  I look forward to checking out Anthony’s new podcast.  And I continue to listen to my favorite shock jock, Opie Hughes and the slim and funny Jimmy Norton.

Cool Shit to Check out:

If you want to check out some of the pieces that affected me this past week, here you go(this is such a mixed bag of stuff, but hey aren’t we all multi-faceted?):

Sirius Buzz: Best article yet on how SiriusXM transformed into “the MAAAAN” and has made podcasting more relevant,click here. Excerpt: “SiriusXM is walking the fine line of trying to be politically correct for everyone when what they should be doing is marketing themselves as a celebration in diversity, varied opinion, and standing proud of the fact that they can be a platform for controversial things that traditional audio entertainment outlets will not touch.”

@Cigarsnscotch piece on Gallows Humor:  “The people that I view as the real ghouls are the holier than thou art, sanctimonious scumbags that will bring the jokes to the attention of someone that they would hurt. They do so under the guise of consciousness and moral outrage, but they do it for no other reason than to make themselves look good.  They will selfishly inflict pain upon a victim in order to paint themselves as  pillars of justice and humanity. If there is anyone that should be reviled and met with contempt, it is someone like that. ”

Gilbert Gottfried (also Cigarsnscotch doppleganger) article about Apologies in 2014: ” “I’m sorry you were offended, because you are apparently incapable of distinguishing between the real world and the ironic fantasy world of comedy.”

Stevey Knight’s blog, that was well written that is similar to how I feel, and much better expressed than I would be able to…-”

Lionel Media– This guy talks alot… but he’s got a point.

Funny stuff via Mephisto :

Support from friends:

Opie:

Jim Norton:

Penn Jillette:

Joe Rogan:

Jay Mohr:

A Music Interlude:

Ebony and Ivory performed by Carlton, sweet guy, with Ant:

Tammy Pescatelli:

Deepak Chopra and Rorschach

Lastly, an audio podcast, Rorschach‘s July 4th Solo Show on It’s All About Me on Morelikeradio: This was pretty refreshing, and inspiring, and most probably will call it New Age Crap.  But I was touched by it.  Anger is such a big part of Anthony, but if he would let it go, wouldn’t it be better for his soul?  Would he still be entertaining? Why or Why not? (callback to notsam) You can listen to Rorschach’s last few minutes about Anger on It’s All About Meee….(Fast Forward to 1:43)

Here’s the Deepak Chopra piece Rorschach plays and how he wants Ant to feel peace and not let the anger consume him.

Deepak- “Judgment creates turbulence in our mind. When there is turbulence in our mind, then it interferes with the creativity of our soul. Creativity and judgment don’t go together. Judgment also means that letting go of the need to classify things, to call them either right or wrong, to label, to define, to describe, to evaluate, to analyze.

Let go, today. Judge not today. Today I will practice non-judgment.

This affirmation is about releasing the need to be judgmental. Just make this your lesson today. Consider what happens when you judge someone – it makes another person wrong. Someone else is wrong to feel a certain way, to look a certain way, to hold certain opinions. Judgment immediately creates separation. Any person who is wrong then becomes ‘them’. The need to judge arises from the need to be isolated – this is the ego’s form of defense. But at the same time you are pulling away from your true self. The same walls that keep other people away also shut off the flow of Spirit.
When you learn not to judge, you are basically saying, “I am willing to let anything in without deciding first whether it is good or bad.”

In the practice of openness, you will be inviting your soul to be intimate with you. So put your attention in your heart right now, and just repeat to yourself:

Today, I will judge nothing that occurs.
Today, I will judge nothing that occurs.
Today, I will judge nothing that occurs.
And by letting go of my judgments today, I will experience silence in my mind.
By shedding the burden of judgment today, I will experience silence in my mind.
And in this silence, I will find the ecstatic impulse, which is also the evolutionary impulse of the universe.
And I will align myself with the ecstatic evolutionary impulse of the universe, by letting go of all my judgments.
Today, I will not classify
I will not label
I will not define
I will not describe
I will not evaluate
I will not analyze.
Today, I will shed the burden of judgment.”

In conclusion:

-@momsforopie