Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Oops... There Goes Another Rubber Tree Plant!


"Everybody's human-everybody makes mistakes. If you laugh it off and keep going, and try to give it your best the next time around, people respect that."

-Unknown

Mistakes happen. Sometimes big, sometimes small, sometimes in elections, sometimes in advertising, sometimes in opinions, and sometimes in perceptions. I was just speaking with a good pal tonight, about how really good friends don't usually need to hear, "I'm sorry," when a mistake is made between them. Along with friendship, comes the unspoken acceptance of humanity in our friends. I am lucky to have extraordinary friends in my life, who have learned to speak the language of, "Carly." Watch any program about friendships, and you will see that very same unspoken realization, is always a part of the glue that holds things together.

It's that unspoken element, that happens between people who take the time to stop and let each other into their lives. I love the fact that people are human, and capable of making things interesting. Believe me, I have been making human mistakes to a glorious degree my whole life, but in the last year or so, since the onset of the Fibromyalgia, my penchant for getting it wrong has become something of an art form. LOL. Oh, but now I just sound like I am bragging. Tell you what...here are a examples of how getting it wrong can make it all right...as long as you remember to keep your sense of humor.

"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."

-Napoleon Bonaparte

Hell No I Won't Go! (Marines Try To Recruit 78 Year Old Woman)

Mrs. Sonia Goldstein, of Saugus, California, was surprised recently, when she received a letter in the mail from her local recruitment office, which asked her to become one of "the few, the proud." The letter told Mrs. Goldstein the service could use her language skills to serve her country. The thing is, Mrs. Goldstein is 78 years old, and can only walk assisted by a walker, and the only language skill she possesses is that she can speak English. LOL. Although she had to decline the offer, she was very proud to consider serving her country, "I'll do whatever I can for this wonderful country we live in." Hey, it was a compliment to be sure, and it gave Mrs. Goldstein and her friends a laugh or two. LOL. Heck, it gave me a giggle as well. In a statement, Maj. Joseph Kloppel, a corps spokesmen, had this to say, "the letter must have been sent as a mistake." When I stopped laughing, I had to wonder, who else got a recruitment letter by mistake? Hmmmm.

Superman Is Gay? Not That There's Anything Wrong With That!

Back in our "getting to know you," days, Alan and I, and a group of pals, liked to hang out together. We would go about our lives all week, with school and jobs, but on the weekends, we would do the same old thing. We would meet at the mall, have lunch at Red Robin or Farrells, and then hit an afternoon movie. It came around to my turn and I chose "Death Trap." I love comedies, and mysteries, and Death Trap seemed like it would be a nice mixture of both...and it was. Not to mention one of the best looking movie men of all time, Christopher Reeve, was a co-star of Michael Caine and Dyan Cannon.

Since I don't know if you have already seen the movie or not, I will tell you that the movie takes a lot of twists and turns, and finally leads you to a point that you probably wouldn't expect. Christopher Reeve kisses a man! I was shocked. I was amused, I really didn't see it coming, but apparently I wasn't the only one to be caught off guard, because from somewhere in the back of the theatre came a loud gasp and then in a loud, disappointed voice, came "Superman is Gay?" Now, I lost it. I laughed so hard, I could hardly breathe, but it wasn't just the words the lady had said that made me laugh, it was the collective GASP in the theatre. It seemed like the entire room had suddenly been let in on a secret of national security. LOL. I mean Superman is an American icon. He does work, at times with our military. What would this mean? LOL. I am sure everyone came back to the realization in a second or two, that this was an entirely different character, but you should have heard the collective gasp!

A few days later, I went into Farrell's to have lunch because I could get there quickly on my lunch hour. I was happily enjoying a delicious burger, when two ladies sat down in the booth behind me. I wasn't really paying any attention to their discussion, until something caught my attention. It went something like this..." Shelia, did you hear that Christopher Reeve is gay?" LOL. I felt myself gasp! Christopher Reeve is gay? What would this mean for womankind? LOL. "It's true...he came out in a movie. My sister just saw it last week." LOL. Hmmm...Had her sister been at the same showing I had? LOL. Isn't that odd? Sometimes that's how rumors, and misconceptions get started. If you haven't seen the film yet, go rent it, great movie, great cast. Christopher Reeve will always be yummy. Jeepers I miss him.

"Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fall in order to practice being brave."

-Mary Tyler Moore

Terry Bradshaw Is Gay? Not That There Is Anything Wrong With That!

As you know I am somewhat challenged when it comes to linking. I also have my moments with spelling, and grammar, all because my brain is misfiring lately. Sometimes, it gets so bad that what can only be describes as complete gibberish, will come spewing from me like rainbird. Alan, has learned to speak Carly, so he can usually decipher what I am meaning to say. It's difficult sometimes, to be thinking a certain word, and have something completely different come out of my mouth instead. A word that isn't even on my mind. Sometimes, that same type of misfiring comes with my hearing as well. The following is a good example.

I was trying to do to many things the other night, like breathing, typing an entry, and watching TV at the same time. LOL. KRON Channel 4 here in the Bay Area shows reruns of "Sex And The City," from 10 to 11 PM Monday thru Friday. Last week I turned it on, because there was going to be an episode I was particularly fond of airing that night. I turned the set on just in time to see a promo for the news at 11. And oh what a promo it was..."Terry Bradshaw's boyfriend, Mikhail Baryshnikov, to make a speech this weekend." Terry Bradshaw is dating Mikhail Baryshnikov? When did that happen? I mean, I try to keep up with things, I read a lot of different publications. I didn't know they were dating. "Hey Alan...did you know Terry Bradshaw is dating Mikhail Baryshnikov? "Huh?' Said Alan. He came into my office to see what I was doing, when he saw the end credits for "Sex And The City" on the TV. He began to laugh...at me...really hard...the rat! "Carly, do you think maybe they said, Carrie Bradshaw's boyfriend, 'Mikhail Baryshnikov?' "No," said I, "Carrie dated Alexander Petrovski, NOT Mikhail Baryshnikov." "Carly, love, who played Alexander Petrovski?" "Mikahil...Oh...OH...never mind." LOL. It was a true Emily Latilla moment, if there ever was one!

We all have these moments. I like being a human, capable of making mistakes, as long as I don't hurt anyone in the process. It's frustrating when it takes me 2 hours to remember how to spell, "of," or I when find that I have typed an entry that is at least 50% gibberish. Sigh. "Neuter" as opposed to "Nurture." "Nad" instead of "And," "Fiend" when of course I mean, "Friend." LOL. I should try to remember to cut myself a break once in a while...hey there are worse things then being human. :)

-OndineMonet
"The Alien Won"
Haight/Ashbury
San Francisco, California
Spring, 2005
Afternoon

4 comments:

DesLily said...

I invert letters alot (nad=and) and maybe don't hit the key hard enough (fiend=friend).. what's so great is spell check! No one has invented a spell check to catch "wrong words"...because what we type is an error but still a word! grrrrrrrrrr and forget proof reading! When you read your own writing 99% of it is READING WHAT YOU THOUGHT YOU WROTE not really READING it over.

Happily I have found that after some time on the computer everyone reads TYPO-NESE! Which is what I type most of the time! lol

Charley said...

Carly,
This is a fabulous post and its message resonates deeply within me. My own illness clouds my judgement and leads me to poor decisions...frequently. As a result I can do and say things that hurt others (though their own problems might also lend to that issue). Forgiveness and humility are key. Thank you for reminding me of that!
Charley
http://journals.aol.com/CDittric77/Courage

V said...

Terry Bradshaw Gay? Now, Carly, that`s funny!
V

Karen Funk Blocher said...

Having found my own $15K mistake at work today, I needed to read this. I was JUST thinking how it might be nice never to make a mistake, at least not one that affects anyone else. Maybe I could only make "fun" mistakes?

Karen