Thursday Thirteen 133: A Bit of Randomness

I'm feeling totally uninspired again this week, so thought I'd try a bit of randomness. Here are some observations made, things that have been on my mind or that have annoyed me over the past week.

~ While walking one day last week I happened upon a lawn crew raking leaves. Nothing out of the ordinary this time of year, but does anyone else think that smoking while raking -- especially while doing someone else's yard -- is a really bad idea? Honestly!

~ Speaking of leaves, you'd be hard-pressed to find any around here these days. The trees all dropped their colorful garments seemingly overnight, and they have all been raked and collected for composting. Only a few tenacious leaves cling to branches here and there.

~ People who don't use the shift key annoy me. It's basic grade-school grammar, folks: proper nouns should be capitalized. Always. People who use all caps also annoy me.

~ Something else that annoys me, as long-time followers know, is bad editing, and never more than during a recent read. I was anxious to read this book, intrigued by both the cover blurb and prologue, but then you couldn't go five pages without an editing gaffe slapping you upside the head and drawing you out of the story. The truly sad part is that this is a popular, top-selling author with a leading publisher. There is no excuse for this sort of sloppiness, and as a consumer I not only felt disappointed but cheated.

~ While we're on the subject of annoyances, this post at The Bumbles blog last week asked what annoys you about other peoples' blogs. I was pleased to see many share my peeve in auto-music on blogs. You know--the loud, jarring music that starts almost as soon as you click on their link. Just. Don't. Do. It. Offer a play list if you like, but please remember that people not only access web content from the comfort of their homes, but from the library, bookstore, cafe, work and many other venues. That unexpected blast of music will quickly earn your visitors the evil eye and turn them off your blog/website.

~ Two other blog annoyances: headers that take up the entire screen, forcing you to scroll down forever and ever to get to actual content -- do these people realize how long those monster headers take to load? -- and "snap" views. I cannot tell you how often those snap views prevent a clicked link from opening, or freeze a screen.

~ Things that make me smile: finding a real honest to goodness card or letter in the mailbox. I've had two so far this week. *VBG*

~ It's hard to believe that it has been 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. I was in college, and remember it being bitter cold for early November. A friend and I had stopped in at The PIT for a late lunch. The TV, normally tuned to soaps that time of day, had been pre-empted, and we watched in awe as students on the other side of the world clambered atop the stone wall, dancing and singing and battering it with hammers and anything else they could get their hands on. Truly an amazing moment!

~ In contrast of that happy day, flags have been at half mast here as several soldiers involved in last week's shooting at Ft. Hood (three of whom were killed) were part of the Madison-based 467th Medical Detachment. There's a sad bit of irony in the fact that this unit is trained to help those deploying and returning deal with stressful (combat) experiences.

~ When placing a call and reaching voice mail or an answering machine, LEAVE A MESSAGE! Seriously. If you don't want to leave a message, hang up during the outgoing message instead of letting it play all the way through. There's nothing so annoying as the click of someone hanging up--not to mention the time wasted listening to your non-existent message.

~ What's with the Christmas music and TV programming already? The other day I discovered that a local radio station has already switched to an all-Christmas music program. Then last night while checking the TV guide I noted that ABCFAM channel is already starting the holiday movies. Can't we at least get through Thanksgiving before being inundated with Christmas fare??

~ Speaking of Christmas... I suddenly realized this week that the big day is only two months away--and I haven't finished any of my Christmas presents yet. Oops. Time to start stitching projects lined up for this year. Thankfully, most should not take too long to complete. I hope.

~ And speaking of stitched projects...don't you hate it when you misplace one? I did a small, round cross-stitch intended for a friend two years ago. Unable to find a frame that had a round opening in it, I set it aside. Wouldn't you know, now that I've actually seen a frame that might work I can't find this cross-stitch. I have looked everywhere. I've torn my project bag apart countless times and searched through supply drawers. Nada. Rien. It has completely disappeared.


Wow, who knew I would hit thirteen that fast? And I wasn't even done emptying my mind yet (Hey! No comments from the gallery!). So...anything on your mind this week?

LINKS TO OTHER THURSDAY THIRTEENS:(Please leave your link if this is your first visit!)
Adelle Laudan * Alice Audrey * Tracie * Journeywoman
chubskulit * Gel * Jana * K * Shelley Munro Jill Conyers * Ms Menozzi * Hootin' Anni * Ella Drake Inez Kelley * Sandy * Elise Logan * Miss Anigie A. Catherine Noon * Paige Tyler * Miriam * CM Torrens
Storyteller * Jennifer McKenzie * Janice Seagraves
Jeanne St James
You can find more Thursday Thirteen participants HERE