Freudian Chandeliers and Light Fixtures - Is It Just Me Or Is This A Little Creepy?

Call me crazy (it wouldn't be the first time), but something is just not right with these pictures. Not just the pictures, but this style of chandelier, in general. More than 125 years after the invention of the electric light, we are still installing chandeliers with candles. Candles? On an electric light fixture? That seems absolutely ridiculous. Even more ridiculous is the fact that I have two of these hideous things in my house. As soon as I can afford it (or don't have something more pressing to spend money on) I am going to replace them. Would we build a suspension bridge out of wood? Do we design cars with a set of reins? Why on earth, in the 21st century are we putting fake candles on electric light fixtures.

Speaking of replacing light fixtures........
I had a fixture in my kitchen that was even more gruesome than the fake candle conundrum. It hung just low enough over my kitchen table that anyone who stood 5'6" or taller bumped their head on it or damaged their vision after staring into it too long. It looked a lot like this:

I know! It's a wagon wheel! The only explanation I can think of is that they took some really scary drugs back in the seventies when this house was built.



I thought - simple, no problem, I will just go down to the home improvement box mart and buy a fixture to replace it. No candles, just something simple. Imagine my horror when, at Home Despot I saw row after row, aisle after aisle of these:


Are you starting to see the problem? Here's a hint, the third fixture is from the "Melon Collection".......... Still not clicking?? They're BREASTS!! Don't you see it?? Breasts!!! Hanging from the ceiling!!! I am trapped in a nightmare of inappropriate lighting options. This is the world I live in. It's is right there in front of us all the time. This is what happens when synapses start firing late at night. I, too, would be oblivious if it weren't for these momentary flashes of reason. What does it all mean? Is it a Freudian nightmare? Is it all phallic candles and breast-like pendulum fixtures? Is it a sign of the end times? I will let you know, as soon as I have it all figured out!

Flesh Eating Bacteria?? I Should Probably Get More Sleep.

Do you ever think about flesh eating bacteria?

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/necrotizing-fasciitis-flesh-eating-bacteria-topic-overview

It is certainly nothing to joke about. I think about it a lot and wonder if doctors actually try every possible remedy at their disposal before they either start chopping off large pieces of flesh or before a person dies from it. What about hydrogen peroxide? Raw honey? Bleach? Not really sure what that last one would do to a person, even if it managed to wipe out the bacteria, but if there was no other alternative?

Wow - it's like they read my mind. This one tried bleach:
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/usa/news/article_1366174.php/Flesh-eating_Superbug_leaves_Florida_mom_fighting_for_her_life

Testimony for raw honey:
http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2006/10/71925

Google Defines Radical

A Netizen in Atlanta wrote:
"One of the wonders of Google is that you can wind up looking at someone’s bio and wonder how you got there. After looking at your blogger web site I noticed something that appeared to be unusual. You say that you are a radical (mother of three) and content with life. So what is so radical about you? "

Definitions of radical on the Web:
group: (chemistry) two or more atoms bound together as a single unit and forming part of a molecule
free radical: an atom or group of atoms with at least one unpaired electron; in the body it is usually an oxygen molecule that has lost an electron and will stabilize itself by stealing an electron from a nearby molecule; "in the body free radicals are high-energy particles that ricochet wildly ...
extremist: (used of opinions and actions) far beyond the norm; "extremist political views"; "radical opinions on education"; "an ultra conservative"
revolutionary: markedly new or introducing radical change; "a revolutionary discovery"; "radical political views"
a person who has radical ideas or opinions
arising from or going to the root or source; "a radical flaw in the plan"
(mathematics) a quantity expressed as the root of another quantity
a character conveying the lexical meaning of a logogram
of or relating to or constituting a linguistic root; "a radical verb form"
root: (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; "thematic vowels are part of the stem"
especially of leaves; located at the base of a plant or stem; especially arising directly from the root or rootstock or a root-like stem; "basal placentation"; "radical leaves" wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

or my personal interpretation:
Radical: a person who likes to enter data into little boxes; especially blog text fields.

smile.... smile for the FBI

U.S. Department of Justice
Federal Bureau of Investigation
August 13, 2008

The fingerprints printed on the attached fingerprint cards are not adequate for accurate identification purposes. The reason for return are set forth below:
CODE L0008 The quality of characteristics is too low to be used. (Determined by the FBI's Automated Fingerprint Identification System)
It is requested that the individual be reprinted and fully rolled and clearly recorded fingerprint cards be resubmitted to the FBI, Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division.
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

ARG!!!

This is the second time my fingerprints have been rejected. We completed our Alabama Foster Care certification classes in March, had our home visits, filled out all of our paperwork, only to be roadblocked by the federal government. Again. (See my post)

http://www.adoptioninformation.com/Foster_care states:
"Today in the United States, there are over 500,000 children in foster care. They are cared for in foster homes, group homes, or facilities offering specialized levels of care, depending on their needs, and depending on space available. There is a critical shortage of foster parents in the U.S., and foster children are often housed inappropriately because of it."

I thought the FBI could lift a print off of a dead, decaying corpse - but it can't read four independent sets of them (8 counting the two prints of each finger on each card X the four cards that they have received) on an official fingerprint card. I know, I know - they scan them in to their computer cataloging system, but still.......! I can't help feeling rejected and unappreciated in my efforts. Doesn't the FBI have a heart for the those of us who want to serve the "least of these"?? Maybe they found out that I am voting for Obama?? Maybe they knew I was planning to vote for Hilary if she got the nomination?? Maybe they are getting me back for that one time in the 11th grade my friend Renee and I tried to hide out in the lobby of the FBI Building to get warm?? Maybe they are reading this blog right now???!!!

Of course, I don't really blame the FBI. I could blame the guy who fingerprinted me incorrectly (both times). Actually, I don't think anyone is to blame. Often we try to outguess God's plan for us. Usually I try to do what seems like the "smart" thing without really asking God what he wants. I am certain that this will all work out to be a part of God's timing. So I will go, a third time, and have my prints redone. And I will wait and see how it all plays out. And then I will blog about it.