Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Dear Kerby,

Last Wednesday or Thursday I became sick. Runny nose and slight cough. Today I still have the sickness but it is not the same. I have had long spans of not coughing, sneezing, or running nose today. That must say something about me getting better. On top of this I have no fever.

Since I have been sick I have not been on the computer like I wanted to be. I paid for one month of the Adobe CC and I see the programs are not used to the full potential. The last project I worked on were business cards for my mom. Some designed her business cards years ago. She is either out of them and can not get more or just needs a new design.

I have yet to finish some of the projects I started working on several months ago. I started them when I worked with the programs more often. Maybe I will make progress before this next months payment comes due. I have to make the decision soon to renew or cancel the programs.

wish I could find a job so I would not have to worry about this problem.

Not sure what to think at this point.

Talk to you later,
Bluelaugh

Work More

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Dear Kerby,

Sometimes I dislike my living conditions. I currently live with my parents. My mom can be a two faced double crosser. She says one thing and does the opposite. She is mad or some form of negative most of the time and I try and stay away from it.

  • If I do not say good morning to her she will try and wreck the day. What is wrong with a quiet, peaceful morning?
  • When she wants to get mad she tells me that the dogs are hers. From time to time she wants me to feed them and pickup after them.
  • My nephew comes over several times a week. He wants to have fun with his grandmother. My mom is not the fun type. She is on the couch watching television most likely. I am the bad person for trying to take care of my nephew. I just stop caring and go about with my own thing.
  • I have tried many times to vacuum when she is around and I get in trouble with her for using the wrong vacuum. She has two vacuums and they both operate the same way. Who needs to own two vacuums?
  • I was in the bathroom the other day with the fan on and door closed. This means that I can only hear myself think. My mom yells from the bottom thinking I can hear her. I never heard a word she said. She comes back later thinking I heard what she said. At this point she is mad with me because I am not talking to responding. If this were me, I would not yell across the house. She has to understand that I might be sleeping, listening to music, or have headphones on.
  • I dare not use the phone when I am upstairs because my conversations are not private. She thinks I am using cellphone minutes (when I had the old phone plan). This is also why I do not voice chat on my computer when she is around. I go to my car and use the phone.
  • At a certain time of the night it is quiet time. I respect quiet time when she is in bed sleeping but If I want to be up I should have the right to be.
  • I am not safe working on my computer. She says I do nothing all day and I am lazy. Not my fault that you are so anti-computer.
  • I can not write an email for my dad due to my parents sharing an email. My mom goes through all the emails as if they are hers.
  • Do not freak out over stupid stuff. My mom will over analyze everything.

I am not saying that I am the best person in the world. I just want to live a different lifestyle than my mom. Her life is hers not mine. I respect everyone in different ways.

How do you deal with someone you are not so fond of?

Talk to you later,
Bluelaugh

Mom

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Dear Kerby,

Dancing with the Stars; it is back for another season this spring. The first episode was Monday night.

Since Ellen's Design Challenge is over I now have another competition show to watch. I have watched bits and pieces of American Idol over the years (sad to see it going) but never stuck with it. With the television I have access to Dancing with the Stars is a good choice for myself.

I am not sure what I will be watching this summer as it is way different than the fall or spring seasons. I might have to catch up on my Malissa and Joey, which was a summer only show. Maybe Netflix or the like will have full seasons of shows to enjoy from the pat year.

Are you into any competition shows: baking, cooking , design, dancing, or other? What is your reaction to summer shows? How do you handle it when a show you are watching ends a season?

On the flip side I have not been sitting around watching television all day. I have been keeping up with my workouts and daily goals.

In December I received a gift card for lovely Target. In return, I got two new pairs of pants. One is a skinny style jean and the other is a relaxed light wash.

Both pairs of pants fit when I purchased them in January. I noticed that the waist in the one pair is a little loose. Even my belt could not fit that. The ass just right not to let them sag. This must men that I am doing something right in my workouts.

Each day that I have I weigh in this past month I see the scale telling me I am loosing it. It is partly, due to the fact, that I changed the numbers of calories I consume in a day. The other part has to do with my heart rate when I exercise.

The Fitbit app tracks my heart rate via the heart rate monitor in my tracker. Since I got the tracker I have been burning quite a bit of fat which is equivalent to a low number heart rate. Lately, I have higher number which sends me up and into the cardio heart rate zone more often.

Hoping to look good and feel healthy.

Talk to you later,
Bluelaugh

Television Weight

Friday, March 18, 2016

Dear Kerby,

Last Friday on date night I made plans to go to the hospital to see Dave's mom. I do not think I wanted to see his mom. I believe that I wanted to make sure that the flowers I sent made it to the right place after a few days of problems. Sending flowers cost money.

When it comes to Friday date nights I just want to spend them with uninterrupted Dave. This is the only time during the week that he makes an effort to get out of work early. He knows I am waiting in the car to be with him. Too many times his mom tries to make him do things for her which shortens the time we spend together. I did not want the hospital to take up the entire night.

In my mind I knew I wanted to leave the hospital because I felt I had spent my time and make an appearance. Dave found it comforting to talk to his relatives even if he had been visiting the hospital during the week. He always finds a way to visit his mom. I never knew he wanted to be around her this much after all the things he says about her.

In the end, date night was going out to eat with coupons and visiting the hospital. I am not going to the hospital this week even if his mom is not in the best of health. He spends the rest of the week with her. I do not see this as being selfish or manipulative in any way. I hope she gets better after having her downfalls in the hospital.

My mom is always talking to Dave, not that this is a bad thing, but I know he wants Friday night to be between the two of us.

Talk to you later,
Bluelaugh

Date Night

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Dear Kerby,

Today, I thought I would share some media with you. With the basic television I do have at home I found ways to watch it online. Not what I watch is all online. I have some shows I do watch via the television. By no means would I say that I am addicted to television. I have had time to kill since I have not been doing design work.

Some of the shows on my current list are from when I had a fancy television service. I have about 30 some channels give or take.

  • Regular Show - I started watching this cartoon when I was living in the dorms. It is one of the cartoons I can actually stand watching. From my experience, they do not make many good kids cartoons.
  • Clarence - This cartoon is about a kid in elementary school that is willing to do anything and everything. The main character has this fun mystery to him that makes it an enjoyable show.
  • Fixer Upper - I am into interior design and all types of design in general. This design show has a little bit of comedy, suspense, and drama. Got to live it when they have these unique visions to update something old.
  • The Fosters - This show is full on drama, in my opinion. If you are into mixed families and suspense then this lifelike show is for you.
  • The Middle - A quirky and entreating comedy about a family from Indiana. What is not to love?
  • The Real O'Neals - My mom thinks this show is like The Middle. Not sure what to say due to it just aired on television two weeks ago.
  • New Girl - I am watching it from season one till current. I think I am a little bit of Jess, personality wise. She has some sexy people in her life. If I was her I would date them.
  • Last Man Standing - Not sure why I like it other than it works for me.
  • Liv and Maddie - Disney Channel can make some comedy shows that are worth watching. This documentary style, as seen in The Office, does not bother me. I disliked The Office.
  • Scorpion - Drama and comedy; intense drama.
  • Ellen's Design Challenge (season just ended) - This compatission style design show lets me have an appreciation for furniture design. The completion aspect is partly what keeps me coming back. I would not watch it if it were formatted as a PBS Special.
  • The Good Wife - A show about lawyers and politics very different form like Law and Order. This show is not about facts and hard hitting evidence every episode.

Tell me a show that has drawn you to continue watching it? What is your preferred method of watching? Are you one to continue watching the show even though they stopped making new episodes? I believe that we have shows we will continue watching will the end of time.

Talk to you later,
Bluelaugh

Episodes

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Dear Kerby,

In the past two months Dave's mom (my boyfriend's mom) has been in the hospital. It was fault of her own. She was having breathing problems. When I first met her a few years back she was short and wide almost like a little Hawaiian lady. It came to be that every time I saw her there after she was attached to the reclining chair and that is where she stayed. I never see her get up from watching television to go to her bedroom. She always slept reclining with the television on.

When the mail came so did the coupons for fast food and pizza. In the past year the coupons had to be thrown away so she would not be tempted to eat unhealthy fast food. She made people go make her meals, get her groceries, and anything else so she would not have to get up out of the chair. This is sad. Even when I saw her at the campgrounds she was ride around in the golf cart and not getting exercise.

After coming home from the hospital over a week ago Dave has tried to make bigger changes to impact his mom's health. I do not want it to be as if I was watching a TLC special about the obese and neither does he. It is more than cutting back on the doughnuts. This is her decision and she has to stick to eating healthy and getting up and moving around. No one else can help her but herself. It is sad but strangely true that she put herself into this unhealthy lifestyle.

This past week after being readmitted to the hospital I sent flowers. The little card that come with has a message from Dave and myself. The floral arrangement consists of orange asiatic lilies, fuchsia carnations, red Peruvian lilies, and lavender button poms with a vase. It was the closest thing to get when someone is vague in telling you what his mom would enjoy. I am not sure what room she is in as I have not visited her yet. Maybe when I do I will be able see the flowers.

Right now I can not do anything and neither can Dave. Dave's goal for this year is to be healthier; so maybe his lifestyle choices will spread around his house where his parents live.

Talk to you later,
Bluelaugh

Lifestyle Choice

Monday, March 07, 2016

Dear Kerby,

This past Friday was First Friday in Michigan City. The first Friday of each moth places are open in or around the northern part of Franklin street in Michigan City. This area is referred to as the uptown Arts District. It has been designed to celebrate the arts. I am a member of an art gallery, Southern Shore Art Association, where I have been displaying art on an off for the past 5 years or so.

Over the time I have been involved with the art gallery I have seen places and people come and go. A group that had a grand re-opening this past Friday was the FADA group. I have come to know the artist involved with this organization due to the camera club I belong to in Michigan City. It started when a few members of the camera club wanted studios to work at. Not all FADA members do photography some of them are in jewelry or the beach. To some of them this has evolved into a mini gallery/business.

For a while I was having date night on Fridays. My date would understand about skipping date night when it would come to First Fridays and the art. Somehow, I found myself always hanging out with the FADA group after the art gallery closed even though I am not officially a member of this particular group.

I appreciate the artists I meet at the art gallery as well as other art events I attend on First Fridays. I am not sure where I would be today if I did not have this aspect of art in my life. People keep asking me what I do. I always tell them that I am I graphic designer. They stare back at me in a tad of amazement because I do not think they met someone with career choice. I bet they have met many doctors and lawyers in their lifetime.

This past First Friday gave me more inspiration and rebirth to know that I am in the right place. I am not sure what will happen when I get an apartment of my own in the near future. I want to move out of Indiana to be in a place where I feel more comfortable and fits who I am. I grew up in Indiana but I am not attached to it. Farm land is not too exciting.

What has inspired you lately? How has this inspiration affected you?

Talk to you later,
Bluelaugh

Art Time

Friday, March 04, 2016

Dear Kerby,

My parents are back from vacation and they are at it again. UGH! The power flickered several times during the snow storm when they were on were gone but thankfully it never went out. This caused my dad's computer to completely shutdown. I not once turned on the computer while they were away. The day my dad comes back he turns on the the computer and all the drama comes back.

He turns on the computer and he did something that results in the computer freezing. I restart the computer and it works as expected. He has little faith in me getting the computer to work. Later on my dad is doing something for one of his volunteer organization via the private email. Every time I make my dad write down instructions on how to do this same same function. I do this so he can be more independent. He yells for me to come in the room. His reply "They changed the screen (referring to updates)." My reaction is to ask/look for his instructions so he will stop bothering me. By this my dad yells at me to get lost and that he never really needed my help. The problem is never solved. He needs to change his attitude. If He really wants to learn things he has to pay attention and not have me be his computer savior.

The other computer problem is that my dad is too lazy to learn the correct way to use the computer. He sent me a picture in the email but I had to open the Microsoft Word file to see it. On top of this, the picture was not proportionally resized; extremely distorted. He had 3-5 pictures from his camera and he wanted to email them to a friend. Instead of zipping the photos and or wanting to learn the proper way to send them he automatically inserts them into a Word file. Graphic designers 1,000% dislike this. When I was first into graphic design I remember a contest poster saying that we could not use Microsoft Word for graphic design and that it was not an acceptable file format/program to use.

His computer was updated from Windows 8 to Windows 10. I get blamed because the computer, in his mind, is a complete disaster. Do not yell at me like I am the Microsoft Corporation. No cares can I give.

When we got a family computer in the '90s my dad signed up for internet under his name. In the package included an email address. This became a family email address that all four members of the family shared. Now the email address is for just my parents even though it is in my dad's name. When my mom got her tablet she went though all emails even if they were not for her. My dad is the complete opposite. To this day she continues to do it. I hear her telling my dad about what is in his emails. I never know who is going to read the emails I send when they arrive at this email address.

Do you ever have computer problems? How do you solve them? Are you someone with a book full of website passwords? I was self taught. I tried and tried again until I learned the computer. It has always been something I felt I wanted to learn. I still use the search engine to look up instructions/videos. This is how I have learned most of my computer graphics knowledge along with other computer programs.

Talk to you later,
Bluelaugh

Generation Gap

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