fracas

I received this by email, from Aussiebabe, who is one of the other fraccy oreo sisters (LindaC, Aussiebabe, the one who shall remain screen-nameless and I are the middle four and everyone knows the middles of anything, like oreos, are the best part). At the end, the email offered two choices. In the email version, choice #1 was to delete. I’ve changed that for the purpose of this post, to ignore. Choice #2 was to forward. I’ve chosen to change it as you see below. I don’t do email forwards, but every now and then I get something I do want to share. This is how I share with those I’m fond of. Everyone close enough to me offline, who would be someone I’d want to share something with, also knows about fracas.

Enjoy!

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, ‘If I were any better, I would be twins!’

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, ‘I don’t get it. You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?’

He replied, ‘Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or … You can choose to be in a bad mood.

I choose to be in a good mood.’

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or…I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or… I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.

‘Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,’ I protested.

‘Yes, it is,’ he said. ‘Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live your life.’

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, ‘If I were any better, I’d be twins…Wanna see my scars?’

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

‘The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,’ he replied. ‘Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or…I could choose to die. I chose to live.’

‘Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?’ I asked

He continued, ‘..the paramedics were great.

They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read ‘he’s a dead man’. I knew I needed to take action.’

‘What did you do?’ I asked.

‘Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,’ said John. ‘She asked if I was allergic to anything ‘Yes, I replied.’ The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Gravity’.’

Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.’

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude… I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’ Matthew 6:34.

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

You have two choices now:

1. Ignore this…

2. Share it with the people you care about.

[Image source (and quiz): Attitude]

Have you got a problem? Is there something in your life that’s just not right, or some little thing that just annoys the frac out of you?

I have the answer, and I’m not going to tell you to write Dear Abby; I’m not going to suggest you find yourself a good therapist, and I’m not going to tell you to go shopping.

I’m going to tell you something that will shock you right to your very core.

Blame someone else.

Yes. I did mean it. Blaming someone else for everything that’s wrong in your life can be very therapeutic… especially if that person is actually willing to take the blame for you and plans to do it live, on Blog TV.

You’ll feel like a new person when it’s over.

You see, a few days ago, I received my regular Fuelmyblog newsletter. In it, I learned that when Fuelmyblog founder Kevin Dixie had sent out a mass fueling of the members, and included a note about the most recent contest they’re running, some of the members (who clearly haven’t invested much time in knowing anything about the community they’ve joined) didn’t realize that they’d just been the lucky recipient of a bonus vote for their blog along with that bit of news and they actually reported his vote as spam.

As a result, he offered to apologize live, for the vote.

So that got me thinking about what an easy-going guy Kevin really is (and you know, his wife and fuel partner Sylvie is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet too) and I wondered if maybe he would take the blame for a lot of other things in the world too. I posted about that over at the Fuelmyblog blog, and got the ball rolling.

Kevin, like the good guy he is, readily agreed, and you have a little more than five hours from now, before that video on Blog TV is live, broadcasting Kevin’s sincere apologies for all the woes of the world. You can add your list of what you’d like Kevin to apologize for by visiting the Fuelmyblog post and adding yours to the list.

Do it.

You’ll feel better. I know you will.

And in the meanwhile, if you’re a fuelmyblog member and you receive a vote from someone named Kevin_Dixie, and if it has a message in it… it’s not spam. It means you’ve just received a vote from the big cheese. Pat yourself on the back and instead of clicking “report abuse,” click “fuel” and give him one back.

It’s the least you can do for him. After all, he’s agreed to take full responsibility for Paris Hilton when even her parents haven’t done that? Doesn’t he at least deserve a vote? 

The link to blame Kevin for all your problems…

[Cartoon Image Sources: The Age and E Cards]

Fracas is not usually mean. Umm. Fracas usually chooses her jokes with more care. Fracas likes to be truthful. Well, unless I’m doing a meme and then sometimes I do lie, but I admit it, so that makes it ok.

In writing about last night’s American Idol show, I honestly have to tell you that I think Magenta Amanda Overmyer will be going home, and if she doesn’t… she should. Her performance last night was terrible and I can’t help but feel the same way about her as I do about Robbie Carrico. She’s a fake rocker.

It’s not that she can’t sing, she can. It’s that her abilities are limited and frankly, I believe she made the top 24 because when they choose them, they obviously choose someone as the peg that fits the hole of each little genre. Amanda this year, is the Gina Glocksen from last year, the Nikki McKibbin of season 1 and so on. The only problem, is that Amanda doesn’t seem to have much of a range in what she can sing. Amanda’s game seems to be the appearance… only last night, her choices resulted in her immediately bringing to mind, a character from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. After that, I just couldn’t take her seriously. I think if she isn’t sent home tonight, it’s because she’s lucky… or because RHPS fans actually voted for her to see if next week she’ll wear the maid’s costume and show her bra.

The bus home from American Idol this week again has room for two of the gals, and I didn’t have much trouble choosing the gal I feel should be the second one to pack her makeup bag and ask for a Gravol to ease the upset tummy. I had no trouble choosing Kady Malloy.

It’s not just that she doesn’t seem to know what to sing and acts like a spoiled 13 year old when the judges try give her advice, it’s that she just seems to be the least likely person who would or could make anyone want to purchase a cd. While some think her Britney Spears impressions on tape are great, Fracas is pretty sure Kady thinks she is Britney… and that’s why she can’t seem to pull together a good performance; she’s too busy putting all that effort into being Britney instead of her vocals. 

If Kady is kept around, Fracas is pretty sure it’s because people are hoping she’s this year’s answer to Antonella Barba. After all, she is 18, and she does seem to think she’s Britney-baby, so maybe there are crotch shots in the Kady/Idol future? She’s just not good enough to stay folks, and I hope you’ve sent her home. Really… it’s likely you’re going to see “more” of her anyway, Idol or not. I’m not trying to usurp Gypsy Fra-Kitty in the predictions department, it’s just that Kady’s mannerisms make it so obvious that she thinks being sexy is more important than being able to sing.

Tonight will tell the tale, and following the results show, Gyspy Fra-Kitty will come by to offer her 100% accurate predictions. You don’t want to miss that!

For the boys, last night was the second attempt at staying in the American Idol game.  Again, I found it a little disappointing. A common thread seems to be that early in any American Idol competition, contestants tend to not know who they are musically, and choose songs based on what artist or what song they’ve “always wanted to perform” instead of what artist or song will actually showcase their own talents best. The smart ones learn this early and so who stays in and who goes home is as much about who is smart enough to know how to show their own particular talents best, as it is about who is the better talent.

I am fairly certain that without the panning over to his absolutely adorable son to save him, it’s fairly certain that Jason Yaeger will be going home. He looked awkward and didn’t sing well enough to help us overlook what Simon said looked like drunken dancing. I feel badly for him, because he can sing, but what’s becoming noticeable is that he’s no performer. He didn’t quite understand the advice given to him last week and went a little over the top, giving a bit of credence to Simon’s comments… harsh as they may have sounded. If Jason gets another opportunity to use his singing talents, he will probably do well. In this type of arena though, I think he’s just out of his league.

Deciding who the other cut would be was a little harder. Michael Johns gave a weak performance, but his previous performances will probably hold him over. He’s likeable and already has a fan base. So too, with Jason Castro. I think he already has a segment of the audience that appreciates his style and will recognize that he chose a song that just wasn’t him.

Once again, I’m listing Luke Menard as a possibility. I found his performance rather “squealy” and unbecoming. It wasn’t him. Had he done a better job last week, I might be saying that he just chose wrong, but I’m wondering if he even does know what he should be singing.  I am though, going to say that I honestly don’t know how to choose between Luke and Robbie Carrico for my second go-home vote.  The fact that this week, Randy also agreed with Simon’s previous comment about not being certain Robbie really is a “rocker.” Yeah, yeah…. Paula had a little come back with her line about how can anyone really know who he is but he, but haven’t we all come to understand that Paula isn’t really there for the value her comments bring to the show? She mainly repeats what Randy’s said… throws in a little tear and the occasional jumping to her feet followed by a never-ending shpeal about how everyone is so good.

So we have Robbie, who is frankly… annoying. I honestly don’t think he’s a rocker as much as he’s someone who thinks he’s a rocker. He does have vocal talent, for sure, but as Simon keeps trying to advise contestants, it’s about personality, charisma and ability to draw people in. Robbie has the personality of someone I’d like to spank. And not in that kinky-adult kind of spanking way but rather in that grow-up-you’re-making-an-ass-of-yourself kind of way. Yes, so he bragged about singing with Britney Spears. As Shania would say… that don’t impress me much. So we see he drag races. Again… that just tells me he really, really wants people to think he’s a “bad” rocker dude. I’ve always maintained that what we try really hard to convince others of, is really that which we’re using to try convince ourselves of. It’s like if you’re rich. You don’t have to tell people you are. If you’re a wanna-be rich guy who just happens to have a ton of credit debt, you’re probably the guy out there trying to convince everyone (including yourself) that you’re rich.

So Robbie….

Comb your damn hair. It doesn’t convince me you’re a hard knock rocker dude. Now David Cook… for all his coming out and dubbing himself a word nerd, David Cook sang like the rocker dude. His voice has it. Yours doesn’t. But Robbie… you can sing. Much as I don’t like you, I can hear that you can sing. If you’d sing what’s right for your voice and not try live out your childhood fantasy, you’d have a better chance of getting somewhere.

At which point, you could sing some rocker dude songs and probably get away with it. Like when Shania did some ACDC. Play the game better or you’ll be going home.

And that… was the boys. Everyone else was somewhere in the middle, in that safe for this week zone. Well except little David Archuleta. Simon is right. There must be 19 other really pissed off contestants, knowing they have to beat him.

David will be a star, with or without winning American Idol. It’s just something everyone already knows. Perhaps some producer should step in now and just give him a deal so that we can actually watch a competition?

And I hope she’s not mad at me for it.

The secret is about LindaC. And since she’s my sis, I really do have some good ones.

This one though, well… it’s not all that bad. It’s just that she spent an ungodly amount of hours doing something so generous and kind for all of us, that I couldn’t let today go by without doing something special for her. 

The secret is… that today is Linda’s birthday, and I would like everyone who reads this to leave a comment to wish her a Happy Birthday, and then head over to Fuelmyblog and fuel her a birthday fuel today.

She deserves it.

She stayed awake to the wee hours of the night, to make sure I got the files for the dvd she created, so that I could burn them in time to show it at mom’s party. There’s way more to that story, but just know that today, I’d like to see LindaC get more votes over at fuel, than me. That would make me happy, and I hope… Linda.

And Linda, you know you’ll hear from me in person later, but for now… I want everyone to know how blessed I am to have you for a sister. When I posted at your blog, that if everyone in the world was a little bit more like you, the world would be a perfect place, I meant it.

Happy Birthday from your forever sidekick.

[Left to right in photo: Fracas and LindaC, mid 60's]