Times, they are a changing...

As technology makes leaps and bounds our lives have changed. Each new “invention” makes a change in how our society interacts with each other, how we gather our news and information, how we communicate.


Stone tablets, papyrus scrolls, merchant ships delivering messages, pony express, telegraph, telephone, newspapers, radio, movies, television, cable, satellite dish, computer, internet….twitter

We want it now! What is going on now? Why isn’t it on the news now? No, I can’t wait!

My favorite source for here and now is Twitter! Basically if you know how to write a “status line” on Facebook, you can Twitter. You are limited to the number of characters you can type, although there are ways to be longer winded! And you can post links and pictures. True it’s not really “News”, it’s information, it’s opinion, it’s emotion…I like it!

You can find almost anyone on Twitter, even my favorite TV character, Richard Castle, is on Twitter! Stars of Country Music, Musical Theatre, Sport, Journalists and Media types, Movies, Products, Characters of every genre, along with your family, friends and neighbors!

No big secret, I follow lots of NASCAR types, those in the sport like Ryan Newman, Elliot Sadler, Kenny Wallace, Jamie McMurray, Scott Speed, Michael Waltrip, those no longer racing like Kyle Petty and Darrell Waltrip, those working their way up the ranks in other racing series like Ross Kenseth, Ross Zumbach, those reporting on the sport, Wendy Venturini, Rutledge Wood, Ryan McGee, Jeff Gluck, Marty Smith et al. NASCAR Wives and girlfriends: Krissie Newman, DeLana Harvick, Sherry Pollex, Amanda Speed, Sam Sarcinella, Jordan Fish twitter. Race Teams twitter; KHI, RCR JGR and SHR. Even the drivers spotters are on Twitter and boy are they funny! I may not be a fan of this driver but the spotter(Joey Meier) for the 12 Cup car is hysterical! Honorable mentions go to the spotters for Matt Kenseth(Mike Calinoff) and Greg Biffle(Joel Edmonds). And no list of NASCAR twitterers would be complete without the inclusion of the best twittering mom in NASCAR, Mary Lou Hamlin, she is her sons best cheerleader and I love her dog Bristol (yorkie owners stick together!)

On any given race weekend NASCAR Twittering keeps you up to date with what’s going on on the race track, in the garage, with the drivers and their families, during the week you catch glimpses of the lives beyond the race track. I’ll never forget the one night a lady who is so much more than just a “NASCAR wife” twittered about a cause near and dear to the hearts of her and her husband; an injustice that had been committed, almost immediately “Twitterville” (thanks Kyle Petty!) was up and ready to bear arms to help this wonderful person.

Strangely enough this leads back to a recent blog I posted on loyalty in this sport. Fans eat this up, so much so that there are “Tweet Ups” before races. (Tweet Up is a gathering of those who twitter sharing a common interest(NASCAR) and the desire to get free stuff, (Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch occasionally do give aways on Twitter.) or so I’ve been told. I hope to attend my first Tweet Up at the Charlotte race in May)

Twitter isn’t for everyone, I know that annoys some people, but there is life beyond Twitter, so I can’t fault my favorite driver if he doesn’t want to take advantage of this opportunity to reach out to his fans, in the long run it’s his loss; yes, others do Twitter in his name but after all his fussing about having a life I would be very surprised if he even knew how to spell Twitter or how to find it on the internet.

Twitter is the future brought to the present, I still twitter the old fashioned way on my computer, (Cheryl_211) I still consider my cell phone my cell phone not an extension to my laptop, luckily when I go to Charlotte in May to see Charlotte (no, I’m not crazy, ok I am but my friend Charlotte lives in Charlotte) she uses her phone to twitter.


Below is a partial list of the drivers not limited to NASCAR on Twitter: Ryan Newman, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Scott Speed, Jamie McMurray, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr, Elliot Sadler, Bobby Labonte, Michael Waltrip, Kenny Wallace, Clint Bowyer, Juan Pablo Montoya, Max Papis, Brian Vickers, Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle, AJ Allmendinger, Brad Keselowski, Michael McDowell, David Gilliland, Joe Nemechek, Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth, JJ Yeley, Colin Braun, Ricky Stenhouse, Kelly Bires, Andy Lally, Erin Crocker, Aric Almirola, Chrissy Wallace, Steve Wallace, Ali Owens, Danica Patrick, Justin Allgaier, Ricky Carmichael, James Buescher, Regan Smith, Brendan Gaughan, Kyle Petty, Darrell Waltrip, Ward Burton, Hermie Sadler, Ross Kenseth, Ross Zumbach, Scott Dixon, Landon Cassill, Brad Coleman, Nelson Piquet, Tony Kanaan, Gian Maria Gabbiani, Augusto Farfus, Sarah Fisher, Travis Kvapil, Austin Dillon, Marco Andretti, Sam Hornish, Helio Castroneves, Robby Gordon

Family History and the love of writing

I love the fact that I have famous writers in my family tree! And strangely enough all from the same side of the family, my grandmother, Vivia Maria Dearborn Barron. She is descended from of one the founding fathers of New England, Godfrey Dearborn and from his line came a great uncle, no pun intended, Judge Samuel Sewell of Salem Witch Trial fame, he wrote an essay, The Selling of Joseph, which criticized slavery, he kept a journal from 1673 to 1729, describing his life as a Puritan against the changing tide of colonial life. In 1725 his essay, Talitha Cumi refers to the rights of women. From all appearance Samuel was a fairly liberal thinker for a puritan. He was also the only judge from the witch trials to apologize for his part in trials. Also from this Sewell branch of the family came Louisa May Alcott, her grandmother, Dorothy Sewell was the great-granddaughter of Samuel. What a glorious writer this lady was, Little Women, Little Men, The Inheritance-written in 1849 and unpublished until 1997 and A Long Fatal Love Chase written in 1866, first published in 1995, the list is long and her life was noteworthy, she even served as a nurse during the Civil War. Another famous writer “cousin” is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow of Paul Revere’s Ride, The Song of Hiawatha and Evangeline fame.


Another note of interest, our family has also been written about, yes, there are the historical references, “The Lawry’s of Friendship Island and even articles published in the New England Historical Register (a fifth cousin works there). The most famous thing written about a family member is “(The Ballad of) Annie Laurie”

Maxwelton's braes are bonnie,

Where early fa's the dew,

'Twas there that Annie Laurie

Gi'ed me her promise true.

Gi'ed me her promise true -

Which ne'er forgot will be,

And for bonnie Annie Laurie

I'd lay me down and dee.

Her brow is like the snaw-drift,

Her neck is like the swan,

Her face it is the fairest,

That 'er the sun shone on.

That 'er the sun shone on -

And dark blue is her e'e,

And for bonnie Annie Laurie

I'd lay me down and dee.

Like dew on gowans lying,

Is the fa' o' her fairy feet,

And like winds, in simmer sighing,

Her voice is low and sweet.

Her voice is low and sweet -

And she's a' the world to me;

And for bonnie Annie Laurie

I'd lay me down and dee.

I have come to discover that the writers in my family tree are not limited to the past, my cousin Judy also writes; recently I had the pleasure of reading a short story she penned about her mother, my aunt Judith; I loved learning their favorite book when Judy was growing up was “Little Women” and Jo (aka Louisa) was her favorite character!

I also learned today that my cousin Neal has written a book as well!

A side branch of my family tree has also been published, my wonderful un-natural father aka Pops aka Gordon. His book, A Cracker Legacy…Subdivide This...it was published 4 years ago. From the publisher, David Clarke….Hurricanes and economic conditions have forced many Florida ranchers to sell out to unscrupulous developers. But not fourth generation Cracker Rancher, Claude Barnhill. With the help of a gorgeous blonde, a Wild Turkey poacher, three outlaw Miccosukees and a dead Cuban feral cat hunter. Barnhill fights the good fight…


I'll keeping writing, blogging and sharing....it's in my blood!

Sisters of My Heart

I've heard it said
that people come into our lives for a reason
bringing something we must learn
and we are led
to those who help us most to grow
if we let them
and we help them in return
well, I don't know if I believe that's true
but I know I'm who I am today
because I knew you...

Lyrics from “For Good” from the musical Wicked


For my sisters of the heart…I know for a fact that I’ve been drawn to an amazing group of girls, ladies, women in my lifetime; I am truly blessed. thank you

Arithmetic

I love Arithmetic, next to History it was my favorite subject in school, I just didn’t realize it until I got out of school!


Math is a neat science, how numbers go together, I love the logic in math, thank you Mr. Ford and Geometry! In his class I learned about logic puzzles and the DLA, (Doofus Liberation Army-another blog topic-when brilliant minds are slightly insane)

And yes, math even plays a part in NASCAR; the scoring system; so complicated. The powers that be came up with the newest “system” for calculating how the races would be scored, there are points for leading a lap, for leading the most laps, for the coolest paint scheme, (ok, not really and I shouldn’t give TPTB any ideas) but it’s kinda complicated and the points don’t make any sense, I mean WTF? 190 points for first and 34 points for last? Where did they come up with that?? I have my own point system and it’s amazing how close it has been to this convoluted mess that NASCAR came up with, it’s simple, 43 cars in a race, you win you get 43 points, don’t care if you lead a lap or not, you come in last you get 1 point. And I am mean, no chase, you race you win that’s all there is too it and I was still close, I actually think most of the fans would have liked my system, I know for a fact that in 2008 Carl Edwards would have loved my system, he came out on top and in 2009 Jeff Gordon narrowly nudged out Tony Stewart, making another year that Jimmie Johnson would not have one a championship. And even now my top 12 is fairly close to the actual top 12.


Actual 2008 Standings                          My 2008 Standings

Jimmie Johnson                                    Carl Edwards

Carl Edwards                                       Jimmie Johnson

Greg Biffle                                            Kevin Harvick

Kevin Harvick                                      Kyle Busch

Clint Bowyer                                        Jeff Burton

Jeff Burton                                           Greg Biffle

Jeff Gordon                                          Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Denny Hamlin                                      Clint Bowyer

Tony Stewart                                       Jeff Gordon

Kyle Busch                                          Tony Stewart

Matt Kenseth                                      Denny Hamlin

Dale Earnhardt Jr.                               David Ragan



Actual 2009 Standings                        My 2009 Standings

Jimmie Johnson                                   Jeff Gordon

Mark Martin                                       Tony Stewart

Jeff Gordon                                        Jimmie Johnson

Kurt Busch                                         Kurt Busch

Denny Hamlin                                     Denny Hamlin

Tony Stewart                                     Mark Martin

Greg Biffle                                         Greg Biffle

Juan Montoya                                    Juan Montoya

Ryan Newman                                   Ryan Newman

Kasey Kahne                                    Clint Bowyer

Carl Edwards                                    Carl Edwards

Brian Vickers                                    Kasey Kahne


Current 2010 Standings                     My 2010 Standings

Jimmie Johnson                                 Kevin Harvick

Kevin Harvick                                  Greg Biffle

Greg Biffle                                        Jimmie Johnson

Matt Kenseth                                   Matt Kenseth

Kyle Busch                                       Kyle Busch

Mark Martin                                    Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Kurt Busch                                      Mark Martin

Dale Earnhardt Jr.                            Carl Edwards

Denny Hamlin                                   Kurt Busch

Jeff Gordon                                      Jeff Gordon

Clint Bowyer                                    Denny Hamlin

Jeff Burton                                       Clint Bowyer





Yeah, Talladega shuffled things just a tiny bit more then I would have liked but it’s only the 9th race of the season, plenty of time for the cream to rise to the top!!

Butterfly

oety

From Cocoon forth a Butterfly

by Emily Dickinson

From Cocoon forth a Butterfly

As Lady from her Door

Emerged -- a Summer Afternoon --

Repairing Everywhere --

Without Design -- that I could trace

Except to stray abroad

On Miscellaneous Enterprise

The Clovers -- understood --

Her pretty Parasol be seen

Contracting in a Field

Where Men made Hay --

Then struggling hard

With an opposing Cloud --

Where Parties -- Phantom as Herself --

To Nowhere -- seemed to go

In purposeless Circumference --

As 'twere a Tropic Show --

And notwithstanding Bee -- that worked --

And Flower -- that zealous blew --

This Audience of Idleness

Disdained them, from the Sky --

Till Sundown crept -- a steady Tide --

And Men that made the Hay --

And Afternoon -- and Butterfly --

Extinguished -- in the Sea --

I’m still stuck on commitment…

Loyalty, allegiance, commitment…to lose or withdraw any of these should be difficult, mind boggling. These are more then just words; they are part of your heart.

Ok, if you’ve read my past “blogs” you know I love, lol, adore NASCAR. Can’t explain it, I could try (and one blog I will) but it’s just there, yes, I’m committed or should be, (see April 20th blog).

Fan loyalty in NASCAR is amazing! I have never encountered a sport, yes NASCAR is a sport (don’t worry I’ll blog on that issue later!) where there are such die hard fans and most just out of loyalty to a brand/person/driver. The first one that comes to mind is Jr. (not Johnson) and his nation. I feel for the boy, hasn’t won a race in over 2 years yet his fans will stand and scream the moment he takes the lead or makes a move to do so. I would hazard to guess that most of his fans are his fans do to loyalty to his late great father Dale Earnhardt Sr.; not that there is anything wrong with that but that’s what I’m talking about. And have any of you been to a NASCAR race, do you know what happens on lap 3?? Nah, won’t tell, it will spoil it for you, but that is truly fan loyalty! I don’t see this commitment, allegiance….loyalty in any other sport, unless it involves a playoff or championship game.

Ok, other “sports” are city based, you support your hometown team, the favorite player gets traded today, tomorrow he’s playing against you. I understand that but when that happens it is expected that you no longer cheer for that person, not in NASCAR. Your favorite driver leaves the “team” he’s on and moves, the fans move with him. Case in point Kasey Kahne, heck no one even knows where he’ll be racing in 2011 but you can bet for that year his fans will follow and be adorn in the gear of his temporary team.

Of course there is the flip side to this coin, if you dislike a certain driver or owner in NASCAR you will carry that with you as well. I have a dear friend who can not stand the Cat in the Hat aka Jack Rouse, she will not support any of his teams, ok, that’s a slight exaggeration because I know for a fact that she has a “thing” for a pit crew member on one of the Rouse teams….oops maybe I shouldn’t have said anything…lol. And I am still amazed at how many “fans” dislike NASCARS resident bad boy, Kyle Busch, funny thing is the more the fans boo him the more he eats it up! Face it, the boy is bad fast on the track and can race just about anything and at times reminds me of my favorite driver.

I find myself with an instance of a split allegiance, I really am enjoying “following” a spotter for a driver I can’t stand, “following” is what we do on Twitter in case you were wondering…wow, another good blogging topic!

I will admit to having my opinion changed as the freshman drivers become sophomore drivers; losing their yellow rookie stripes. I have discovered there is fresh talent coming up the ranks, new drivers to earn my loyalty. I have to face the reality of NASCAR, drivers can’t race forever, ok Mark Martin is the exception to that rule! I don’t see myself being so taken with any other “sport”, well except hockey-Go Lightning in 2011! I will need another couple of drivers to watch on the track.

Some of you may ask if there is a tangible reason for this fan loyalty, allegiance, commitment. Most definitely, what other sport allows you to get up close and personal with the athlete you are following? NASCAR does that, this sport is fan driven; no pun intended, without fans the drivers, teams, sponsors would be out in the cold. Watch what happens to the area surrounding a race track 48 to 72 hours before a NASCAR Cup race. I have been fortunate to be in Charlotte the last 2 years (soon to be 3) for the spring races starting with the Pit Crew Challenge and ending with the Coke 600. That city is alive as it embraces its drivers home for 2 weeks of fun and this year there is the long awaited opening of the NASCAR Hall of Fame! This long over due place of tribute will showcase the great and notorious history that has become NASCAR; drawing those who love the sport and those who are just curious at to what all the hoopla is all about!

You can even vote for the most popular driver in the Hamburger Helper Most Popular Driver poll…website - www.HelpersMostPopularDriver.com!

2010 Standings, alphabetically as of 4/18/10

Kyle Busch
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Carl Edwards
Jeff Gordon
Kevin Harvick
Jimmie Johnson
Kasey Kahne
Matt Kenseth
Bobby Labonte
Tony Stewart


And you can vote to get your favorite driver in the All Star Race, 2 years ago the guy voted in actually won the race! website - http://www.nascar.com/promos/allstar/2010/vote/


did i ramble too much??

Chinese Food

My mothers favorite food in all the world is Chinese Food! I think the first Chinese Restaurant(China Moon??) she went to was in Levittown, in the shopping center with the (Peter Pan?) Bakery, just down from Sears where she was working. She is always looking for Chinese food, Gainesville, San Francisco, New York, Epcot, Beverly Hills, Lecanto, Crystal River, Anderson, St. Petersburg, Lakeland, Bartow, Orlando, Miami and Key West have all been searched.

The best story of her adventures with Chinese food has to be when she and Pops (Gordon) lived in Key West. For the longest time there was one Chinese place they would go for take out and they are creatures of habit for the most part and usually order the same thing. They’d walk in and the ordering would be 1 order sweet and sour pork, special fried rice no onion, egg foo young, no white rice and the only variable being either pepper steak, shrimp or chicken chow mien. Low and behold a new take out place opens, so Mom decides to try it out, sends Pops off to pick up the order. He returns home and mom is looking and shaking her head, something isn’t right. So she asks where he got the food, he looks at her like she has 3 heads, where else, the place we always go. I got there and they saw me and said, Oh Mr. Stevens your order in the back. 10 minutes later they came out with the order.

Mom stood there shaking her head, but I ordered from the new place! Their neighbors were the lucky reciptants of the extra order of Chinese food!

Now the phrase, “Mr. Stevens, your order in the back” ranks up there with the other family favorite, “$5 for you Mr. TV man”, get your minds out of the gutter, $5 was for a parking space!

My second “Blog” of the year and it’s almost May…

I am determined to make a commitment to blogging on a regular basis. Some may think for a person who has made the declaration that she is a “writer”; having written since 7th grade some fictional story of one kind or another, that this shouldn’t be a problem but it is, fiction is easy, “making up” stuff and putting pen to paper so to speak is easy for me, but “blogging” to me is totally different, “blogging” is me! It’s me expressing my opinion; rose colored glasses and all…

I tend to ramble when I write, me being me, I have random thoughts and take off.

Commitment: to commit to something, make a plan, stick to it, don’t give up…all these things run through my mind when I hear the word “Commitment”.

Definitions of the word…

Merriam-Webster.com

Main Entry: com·mit·ment

Pronunciation: \kə-ˈmit-mənt\

Function: noun

Date: 1603

1 a : an act of committing to a charge or trust: as
(1) : a consignment to a penal or mental institution
(2) : an act of referring a matter to a legislative committee b : mittimus

2 a : an agreement or pledge to do something in the future; especially : an engagement to assume a financial obligation at a future date b : something pledged c : the state or an instance of being obligated or emotionally impelled (a commitment to a cause)


(I love Wikipedia!)

Commitment means to show loyalty, duty or pledge to something or someone, and can refer to:

Personal commitment, interaction dominated by obligations. These obligations may be mutual, or self-imposed, or explicitly stated, or may not. Distinction is often made between commitment as a member of an organization (such as a sporting team, a religion, or as an employee), and a personal commitment, which is often a pledge or promise to ones' self for personal growth.

Brand commitment refers to the strength of the relationship between consumers (or customers) and a particular brand (or service).

Involuntary commitment, the practice of using legal means or forms to commit a person to a mental hospital, insane asylum or psychiatric ward against the will or over the protests of that person.

Ontological commitment, belief in ontology in philosophy.

Cell commitment, the molecular event that leads to cellular differentiation.

Organizational commitment can mean something pledged by an organization as opposed to its members.
Commitment (computer science) - the concept of commitment is studied in several branches of computer science around the notion of something pledged.

Physical commitment is information pledged about physical systems (that are situated at a particular place and time).

Social commitment, in a multi-agent system a directed obligation from one agent to another to perform certain actions so as to bring about a certain state of affairs.

Commitment scheme, in cryptography

Commit (data management), to make changes permanent in data management. For example, COMMIT is a statement in SQL. The opposite is to rollback (data management).

Kingsbury Commitment, the beginning of AT&T's monopoly in the telephone industry

Climate commitment, a model of climate change.

LBC Commitment, the second major-label album from the band Lucky Boys Confusion

Commitment (Guang Liang album), or 約定, an album by a Malaysian Taiwanese singer Guang Liang.

"Commitment," a song by LeAnn Rimes on her album entitled Sittin' on Top of the World.

In poker, it means that someone will do better by staying in a hand no matter what (even if he probably doesn't have the best hand, he would still win more money by betting all his chips), rather than folding

For example, Corey Nelson committed to Texas A&M, but then decommitted on signing day;

also see "Integrity" & "Character"


Wow, also see Integrity & Character!! Integrity is not a word you hear often, it’s a good word, I see strength and fortitude, a willingness to do the right thing no matter what is popular, standing by your beliefs; being true to yourself and all that takes character!


Ok, I digressed, back to commitment, being committed, ok that just struck me as funny, sometime I think I should be committed; sent to the funny farm. Not that I’m crazy but maybe 2 bubbles to the left of center! I’ve always felt that those People who say they are normal or sane are actually the ones who aren’t really and those of us who feel that we are a little “off” are the really sane ones! Dang, did it again…

This commitment stuff maybe harder then I thought, I suppose I will have to have the courage of my convictions as well; makes me really glad I have a great group of friends to support me.

Ok, so I have to have commitment which leads to integrity and character and now courage…

I can see courage coming into play very soon, I suppose since I am putting this “blog” out there in cyberspace and (gulp) I suppose on my Facebook profile…I will have to do it and be there for my writing…

I suppose now I will have to see if I have integrity and character and the will to keep this commitment.

I hope the rambling hasn’t caught any of you off guard, you were warned and this is me, I’m a blend of life experiences that have happened and those being brewed out there for me to experience, anything is possible, no more impossible dreams…I wonder where this journey will take me, take us, that is if you care to follow along…

Feel free to comment or not!

Ok, I've been really remiss!!

I was reminded tonight about this blog, not that I hadn't thought about it but I didn't know what to write or if I even remembered my sign in or password!! But this is important, I love to write and keeping up with this blog can only help!! I love feedback...ok, I'm getting ahead of myself....let's back up....



I have been writing a bit of fiction and yes, I've shared it with several friends but not all, this is a growing living breathing story to me, I simply adore this wonderful flawed confused loving people, their lives are complicated, things happen, life isn't perfect or simple and this story is proof! So, I may use this blog to throw somethings out there, get some ideas, bounce things off of you...so FEEDBACK is important!!



I also have a lot of random thoughts, yes, on occasion I wear rose colored glasses!!



If you are reading this blog for the first time start at the beginning, the early postings, the first is Why Widget?! 10/30/08...

also understand, sharing this blog and my story is a big step, I am basically a shy person, my writing is very personal and close to my heart...and yes, I can still take feedback, it's the only way I'll grow and become the novelist I know I can and will be...