Posted on

Southern Charm At Its Best

Hey Hey Hey!

The Yak Blog is getting some Southern Charm :).  That’s right MissSouthernLady is blogging now. For those of you who haven’t been on the forum and don’t know me here is a little bit about me. I am an assistant teacher who has her degree in elementary education looking for that perfect certified job. I am a single lady who is trying the world of internet dating (Yes I think I am insane). Your typical country girl who loves her family, friends and God. I am a Big Brother fan who was a participate in the first season of Yak Big Brother (was named Favorite Juror!).

My ramblings will be about my crazy kids that I teach, my hot mess of internet dating and just random stuff.

I hope you will enjoy my ramblings if you don’t well I don’t care ;).

Posted on

Older and Cynical?

glassfullIs it just something that goes hand and hand? I find, as the years go by, that I am getting more and more cynical. I used to be the “glass half full” kind of gal, but I am noticing more and more that I have become, well, crabby I guess is a good word.

It just seems that there are way too many people doing too many selfish things, ALL… DAY… LONG… Every day. I go out and am cut off. I get in line at a store and someone tries to run ahead. People are on the phone while driving, checking out, ordering food at a restaurant, or even texting while eating dinner with their families. I wasn’t raised this way. Can’t we put the phones down for a second? Traffic, ALWAYS traffic and always people doing messed up things in said traffic, making it all worse. I seem to be at my cynical worst in traffic. People really stress me out. Have they gotten more lax on the driving tests lately? It seems like they are letting a lot more people have a license that can’t really manage the whole driving thing. Oh… and parking. It seems more and more people just can’t get their car between those two little white lines anymore. Do they not teach that either? Grrr!

Then there is politics. Ya know, it NEVER was like this when I was growing up. In fact, I remember my grandmother once saying they don’t ever talk about politics with others. Politics and money were specifically off limits in her day and in part of mine it seems. Now, EVERYONE is talking about it. Not only are they talking about it, but anyone who disagrees or subscribes to a certain political party are “stupid” or the like. When did we lose our manners? When did this country become all about me, me, me. I’m first. I want. I am entitled to. You must agree with me or else. Screw the poor! Screw the rich! Screw the people that don’t look, act and think like me! And most of all, screw the people that don’t get out of MY way, because after all, I am more important than ANYONE else!

Which then brings me to religion. Again, yet another taboo, at least I was taught, to discuss. People disagree, A LOT. What I don’t understand is… why? Why can’t one person hold one religion and the next person can’t hold another? It goes back to the “me me me” society… YOU don’t THINK like me, so you MUST be stupid! You know how many wars have been fought because someone thinks or feels differently when it comes to faith? Why not let someone have their faith and leave them alone? I guess I just don’t get it. I am assuming that this is the decade of “stick your nose in everyone elses business” age. Course, social media doesn’t help. Everyone posting about the last restaurant they went to (with a map), the terrible fight they had with their boyfriend (and why, eliciting a lot of awwwwssss, poor thing!), to the last BM they took and how it felt. Sometimes, just SOMETIMES, it’s ok not to update all of us. Just sayin’, ESPECIALLY if you KNOW you will getting back together with said boyfriend in an hour. Seriously? STOP IT.

And while I have your ear, if I indeed still have your ear, STOP THE CUTTING OF YOURSELF. JUST STOP IT. First, where are these kids parents? Oh I know, probably talking on the phone at the dinner table, or trying to maneuver their car not so much inside the white lines. JUST STOP IT. It’s one of the most SELFISH acts you can do and if you do do it, please don’t post the pictures on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram. Post it on your parents phone instead. Show them that you need help. I won’t go any further with that.

What is this? Why do so many put up with this? While I’m at it, why do people put up with some of the CRAP (yes, crap) they put on TV nowadays? I realize it’s always fun to watch a train wreck here and there (Honey Boo Boo or what not comes to mind) but does it have to be all the time, on every channel? We lose good quality programming every day lately, for what? A new dating show? There aren’t enough of those? A new housewives city? There aren’t enough of those? You realize the big networks LOVE this age. Why? Because trashy shows like this are cheap to produce and WE put up with it. Lucky them.

We live in a time of trash and entitlement. Trashy TV, trashy people… So maybe I have answered my own question. I am not getting more cynical as I age, the WORLD is getting more cynical as I age. I wish that would change, but unfortunately, every day looks to be getting worse. Sigh. Alright, rant over. That is, until I have to drive somewhere again.

Posted on

#cutforbieber: Excuse Me, America. We’re doing WHAT For Bieber Now?!

bieber
Justin Bieber

For those of you not familiar with Twitter, let me quickly run over what a TT or Trending Topic is. You can limit your search from your own city to state to country to internationally. Right now, Monday afternoon, #cutforbieber is trending. That means, there is a HEAVY discussion about this tag going on in the United States right now.

If you’re anything like me, curiosity can sometimes kill the cat. In this case, curiosity makes me lose hope for humanity. If you have been keeping up with your celebrity pop dirt news (which thankfully YY doesn’t cover), you might know that pop star Justin Bieber has been caught smoking pot. In fact, a paparazzo lost his life trying to snag photos of the teen heartthrob in the act. But we won’t even touch that part of the story.

Let’s fast forward to today when fans of the Biebs have come up with a new way to combat his new habits. What exactly are we cutting for Bieber, you ask? Our wrists. That is right. A good part of his fan base has taken to posting pictures of slitting their wrists on Twitter and other social media site to get the pop star to ditch his new girlfriend, Mary Jane. For your sake, I will not be posting any of those pictures here, but excuse me?! Hold the mother trucking phone?! First of all, what is this going to accomplish? Is slitting your wrist really the solution to get Justin Bieber of all people to stop smoking marijuana?

First of all, Bielibers (or however you spell that), this is a VERY serious condition that many people – young and old – struggle with. It is not something to make light or just pick up on the whim to try and reach out to your favorite pop star. To make light of this situation or even just endanger yourself for him is pathetic. Yes, I said it. Pathetic.

Now, many Bieber fans are also taking to Twitter to claim that this all started with trolls who don’t like Bieber and that Bieber fans are really not doing this. Well, as pathetic and lame THIS alternative is, I sure hope this is the truth.

How about, oh I don’t know? Boycotting the Biebster and his music if you really feel strongly about it? Don’t request his music? Don’t download his tracks? Stop watching his YouTube videos? THAT might get your message across and you’re not endangering your life in any way in the process.

I implore you to please stop this and to stop it now. Slitting your wrists is NOT safe, healthy or a good idea by any stretch of the imagination. If this is a problem you are struggling with personally, please sit down and talk to someone about it. Your parents, a doctor, a clergy member in a place of worship. Someone. This is a serious issue and should not be taken lightly – by Bieber fans or anyone else.

Posted on

2013: Resolutions, Changes, Creation

Some foolhardy administrator gave me blogging privileges…We shall regret that in the future, until then let’s toast to 2013!

I’m sure many people have created resolutions; personally, I wish I still went to a gym so I could track who started coming at the New Year and when they gave up on their resolution to get fit.  Just go to Taco Bell and try to flush your system out.  My other favorite is giving up smoking at the New Year; I’ve partaken in that one numerous times.  Resolutions are great so long as you’ve got determination to see them through, otherwise…it’s just an ‘excuse’ to start over.  Such is life.  At least it’s worth taking a risk change, right?

That’s what brings me to 2013:  It’s time to take that chance, make that blind leap, throw caution to the wind and see where you land.  You may fall flat on your face, but you won’t land at the same place you were at.  Don’t make out with homeless men though.  I learned that the hard way.  Most of all, just learn from the previous years.  Constantly grow, ever expand, and never stop finding new things in this world.

Make 2013 your year.

Posted on

Finally Blogging! New Year Resolutions: Social Media Clean Up, The HCG Diet!

new-years-eveIt’s time once again to welcome in the New Year and say goodbye to the old. Some of us are very happy to see this last one go and look forward to what the New Year will bring, while others aren’t so optimistic. I happen to be in the first group, therefore, have decided to start this blog off with my New Year Resolutions. This, of course, is after I sprinkle the Kosher Salt in front of all the entries to my home, make my New Year wishes while lighting candles and make sure a tall dark handsome male will be the first through my front door. (I will get my son to do that job!) If there is New Year Voodoo I’m missing here, do let me know below!

My first resolution? Blog.

Yes, The Yak has had this blog for quite some time now. (As you can see from the first post, since 2011!) We set it up, got it all ready to go, then just left it here with test posts waiting for a miracle to happen I guess. Well, that didn’t happen. I guess blogging actually takes someone sitting down and writing down their thoughts… Who knew? So from this day forward, us Yaksters have decided to blog. Hopefully it’s entertaining, informative, emotionally inducing in one way or the other and well, read by someone out there. We are also hoping to get some guests bloggers every now and again that you may enjoy, so stay tuned!

My second resolution, clean up my social media.

socialmediacleanupWhat I mean by that is to dispel the negativity in my life, beginning with social media. This past year I have seen my Facebook feed go WAY downhill. Between the elections and political posts, Newtown and Gun arguments, etc. going onto Facebook is just not so much fun anymore. I have actually had to “hide” friends feeds from showing up in my timeline. So I asked myself, why have “friends” that you have to hide? If I have absolutely (apparently) nothing in common with them, from politics to religion to even daily thoughts, why are they a friend to begin with? People have asked me “What about Family that you don’t agree with?” Well, I will probably still keep family (but hide their posts for the most part) but those are blood related to me, I can’t do anything about that. However, I can do something about people I have never really met in real life, or old High School buddies that just aren’t compatible with me anymore. I’m just tired of seeing post after post of fear, negativity, and quite frankly, false crap from places like “YourMamasBasement.com” posing as the latest news source. Anyone can make a site that looks real “newsy” and call it something like “The U.S. Herald” or some such thing, then post conspiracy after conspiracy. I am appalled by just how many people believe these things, then share them all over Facebook, Twitter and the like. No one has the time of day to constantly fact check them, then argue all day about it. (Heck, I even had one person tell me, when I decided to post on one of their posts, that “How dare I post on things they post on their Facebook Status!” I kinda thought that was what sharing was all about, but ummm, ok?) People are going to believe what fits their agenda unfortunately, and I say, let them. To each their own. If that’s how they wish to spend their days and make everyone who is “friends” with them spend their days, then more power to them. That doesn’t mean though that I need to read this negativity constantly streaming through my feed, hide people, or walk on eggshells every time I post. They can all have fun (or fear and negativity) on their own. I am going to consciously choose not to participate. Maybe, just maybe, if we all did this who are sick of it, they would get the hint?

My third resolution – Diet

hcg-diet-recipesHere we go again. Another year, another diet. I have done them all. Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Atkins etc.. The latter was always my go to. See, I was diagnosed with Hypothyroid in 2010. How long I had this problem I have no idea. I had the symptoms of it for, well, as long as I can remember. You name the problem, I pretty much had it. I somehow managed to not let myself get too high up there on the scale, mainly because of eating low carb for the most of the last decade, but always that chubbiness I could never get rid of, along with the sluggishness and aches/pains that go along with it.

This last year, towards the end of the year, I discovered the HCG Diet. This has changed everything. I did one round so far, before the holidays, and lost 25 pounds. Course then the holidays rolled up and I didn’t diet at all… So yeah, I got a little of that back. That’s ok though, I expected that. I mean, kinda like the blog doesn’t write itself, eating the Thanksgiving and Christmas goodies and still losing weight would take a miracle. Alas, my next round of the HCG Diet is coming up. I am due to start somewhere at the beginning of January and will be sure to blog about it. Anyone not familiar with this diet, stay tuned, I will provide info and links on the what and how. If you really want to know somewhat about it right this minute, you can read “Pounds and Inches” by Dr. Simeons. You can get the book for FREE online here: dr-simeons-manuscript. If you are looking for more info after reading that, you can also leave a comment below or come on into the Yak’s Forum HERE and post, or send a private message to me there, (TheKdd). I would be more than happy to help get you started.

Now the HCG Diet is not for everyone, you will read about that in the book. Also, though, it takes some heavy duty devotion to the diet. Thing is, the way I got through it, it’s only 24-42 days. (You choose the length based on how much you have to lose.) So I thought… heck, what’s a month out of my life? So devoted I was, to the letter… and devoted I will be again. You go through phases and rounds of the diet, as you will read. I have done one longer round and plan on doing two more shorter ones. That should get me where I want to be. Anyone else going on this journey, or any diet journey for that matter, leave a comment! We can do this together!

Resolution Number Four: Walk the Dogs

dog-walkingI really hate putting resolutions on paper (or a Blog) for all to see, mainly because at the end of 2013, I will have to look back at this and see what I didn’t follow through on. Hopefully this isn’t one of them. I do walk my dogs, sometimes, or get my kids to do it… but I know they want more time with me, and it’s healthy, so why am I not doing it? I could say because I’m blogging, but we all know that isn’t true. How about because I’m tired. Yeah that’s it. I’m tired. No? Too busy? Ugh. Fine. I will walk the dogs more. I know they will love that.

Resolution Number Five: Follow Through with Resolutions

NYRchart Ok well this one is a given. I think everyone needs to have this resolution. Every year we say we are going to do this or that or what not just to repeat it again for the next year. I have even read about people who think resolutions are stupid and to just not make them. Forget those people… negative nellies. Yes, not following through can disappoint but not making them so you don’t disappoint? So let’s not try and better ourselves so we don’t disappoint. That doesn’t even make sense. So yeah, FOLLOW THROUGH.

NYRchart2

Now of course there are a few more resolutions I haven’t covered here but I think I got the main ones up top. What are your resolutions? Post them below so we can all follow along (and there is a record of it. Muahahahaha.) No going back once it’s in print!

Posted on

Random Thought Thursday! I LOVE the Muppets! Ok Go!

I don’t have many random thoughts today. I stayed up way too late watching the crazy Big Brother Houseguests flipping back and forth and causing drama. Yep, they went to bed at like 5am, after much drama, and me sitting there with my head spinning. Now, they’re all sleeping in the HOH room. Can’t they do this drama during normal people hours?

But I digress. For my poor tired brain, I need entertainment, and Ok Go’s new video is absolutely perfect for this kind of day. I liked this so much I thought I should share. So, here is my share for the day. Let me know what you think below!

Posted on

Random Thought Thursday: Big Brother, Weiners, Green and Gold.

What’s with me and the pics of colored animals lately? Ah well… Wow, there are so many random thoughts floating around in my head today, that getting them out and done might be a good thing. Maybe I can get some actual work done. (Yeah right.) Well, here’s a few…

Big Brother 13

Woohoo! Here is comes! I myself am pretty excited. I really hope it’s another Season 2, 3, 6, 8, or 10, or even 11. Please don’t be a dismal season! Please don’t have anyone telling people not to argue. (I’m talking to you Ragan… love ya, but seriously? Us feed watchers don’t want kumbaya!) Will they play off the evil theme “13”? That could be fun! Will there be people that know one another in there? (Not fun… please don’t do that.) Will Jessie be back? (PLEASE DON’T DO THAT!) We are discussing all of our likes and dislikes in the forum… plus so many polls! Come join us! Right now.

Movie I am Looking Forward To

Yeah, random, but if you haven’t seen this trailer, it’s a must. I may even make it to the theater to catch this one. (One of those rare opportunities.) Watch this all the way through:

WeinerGate

Why are you still reading this? You should be in the forum registering, and voting in our polls on Big Brother! Alright, if you must finish this out… Seriously, I am so over this Weiner scandal. (Course everytime I say that, it makes me laugh like Beavis and Butthead.) I ‘almost’ want to say boys will be boys, but then, I know all men aren’t this way. Right? Am I right? Someone tell me I’m right. I want to hear the masses tell me that there are men out there that are not like this, or wouldn’t be like this if the situation presented itself. It just seems so prevalent these days that I sometimes lose faith. The problem is, these women put up with it! I mean, if this was going on for a few years, and these women are coming out NOW, not when it first happened, only now when they see the $$$ in their eyes, well, just shows you their morals.

In the meantime, why is this news? Personally, this is a personal problem he has got going on. Apparently, he needs people to tell him he has a nice, um, ‘member’ so-to-speak. Sounds like an insecurity to me. It happened between consenting adults. The only person this should be some major news for is his wife, or soon to be ex-wife, however she decides to deal with this. My personal feelings are she should be the latter. Course we learned she is in the early stages of pregnancy yesterday. That presents a whole new twist to her disappointing, heart breaking dilemma.

This really shouldn’t even be political. I mean yes, he is a politician… that in itself makes it political I guess. However, hearing Democrats and Republicans that supported others in their same party that had much worse sex scandals, calling for his resignation? Just shut up. No seriously, shut up. You can’t support one sexually deviant guy because he believes in your politics, and not either support or just shut up about the other. It’s hypocritical at best, and just makes them look stupid.

I digress, why is this news? Aren’t there more important things to talk about in the world? This is plastered all over my TV, my FB, all over Twitter… enough already! Let the Twitter and FB world get back to what it does best… letting guys send pics of their privates to willing participants. Plus, Big Brother is coming on soon. That is much more important!

Moving on – (and still wondering why you keep reading and have not gone and registered in the forum and posted on what you want to see in Big Brother.)

SYTYCD!

I love this show. I really love this show. If you haven’t watched, then it’s a must. Now, I know there are some of you out there, like me, who aren’t that fond of the screaming Mary Murphy tends to do when someone nails it. Yeah, I am not on the “Hot Tamale Train.” Sorry fans of that, I know, you all hate me now… but there are plenty who love her in the forum, so get on in there! (Which you should have already done anyway.) For the ones that are turned off by that, I say, TAPE IT. You can always forward her critique, like I did with Paula and Kara on American Idol. Plus, she really hasn’t been doing that so far this season, and her critiques have been good! So, tune in, you won’t regret it! (Watch… tonight she will scream more than ever now that I said that lol.) There are some amazing dancers on this year!

Death of a Great

Lastly, let me just say that I was very saddened to report that Andrew Gold passed away this week. I still had a couple of his songs on my playlist that I listen to a lot. He was an amazing musician, and brilliant songwriter. He was an idol of my youth. We will all miss him dearly, and my condolences go out to his family.

That is all for today folks. Now, let me know your random thoughts below, and as soon as you are finished, I expect to see you in the forum, registering, and getting ready to celebrate our favorite summer obsession, Big Brother! Seriously. Get in there. Now would be good.

Posted on

Flashback Friday: The Westside Middle School Massacre in Jonesboro

Today’s Flashback Friday in History, was a very sad moment indeed.

It was March 24th, 1998. 13 year old Mitchell Johnson and 11 year old Andrew Golden had, the night before, loaded Johnson’s mothers Dodge Caravan with camping supplies, snacks, two semi-automatic rifles, one bolt-action rifle and four handguns which they’d stolen from Golden’s grandfathers house. On the morning of March 24th, they drive the Caravan to Westside Middle School located in unincorporated Craighead County, Arkansas, United States, near Jonesboro. When they got to the school, Golden pulled the fire alarm while Johnson took the weapons to the woods outside of the school; Golden joined him after pulling the alarm. The two boys opened fire as teachers and students began filing out of the school. The boys killed four female students and one teacher, while wounding ten others. They then attempted to run back to the van and escape, but police captured them. Their plan was to run away, evidenced by the survival gear, food and camping supplies.

These two boys were amongst the youngest ever to be charged with murder in American history and were it not for their ages, the prosecutor stated he would have sought the death penalty. The maximum sentence under Arkansas law at the time was confinement until the age of 14! They actually served longer than that due to the additional weapons charges; Golden was released on May 25, 2007 and Johnson was released on August 11, 2005. If they’d commited their crimes years later, even at the ages they were at the time of the crime, they could have possibly been sentenced to life. Obviously, for Johnson at least, the confinement did nothing for his character as on January 1, 2007 he was arrested for drug posession and carrying a prohibited weapon; he’d been riding in a van with his roommate, who ironically had been sentenced in 1999 for killing his father with a crossbow. They claimed that their original motivation for the shootings was due to bullying and they only wanted to scare, not kill people.

This brings up a major Catch-22 for me, as it did at the time of the shootings. On one hand, bullying is a major issue and has been for a long time. It is horrific the things that kids do and say to each other and as adults, it’s our responsibility to set an example and show why bullying is wrong. On the other hand, obviously it’s not the right thing to kill people who have bullied you. So where is the balance? What do you all think?