13 Thursday: Red and Ready to be Read
1. Putting on mascara before going out to a therapy session is like curling my hair before taking shower.
2. Hanging up from talking on the phone to my husband, I said, “I’ve got to get back to doing whatever it was I wasn’t getting done.”
3. He’s a counselor who specializes in substance abuse. By the looks of our culture, I think his job security is pretty good.
4. I took my great niece Samantha, who just turned 13, out for her birthday. The photo is of her showing me her new IPOD. She turned me on to Shirley Temples (see pink drink) too.
5. My good friend Juniper turned 50 in November. I like to call the below photo of her, taken at her party, “I’m this many!”
6. Juniper once got 2 speeding tickets in one day. She was able to get one thrown out on a technicality because her license plate said SACRED but the cop wrote SCARED on the ticket.
7. Look HERE how they control speeding in Denmark! It’s a whole new take on “stopping traffic!” Courtesy of Terri at Island Writer.
8. A guy I know from Blacksburg, who has a best seller book called “Contract on America,” wrote a great commentary, published in the Roanoke Times last week, on Electronic Voting with a link to a video demonstration on how easy it is to steal votes.
9. What were we thinking when we accepted a voting system with no way to do a recount, one that political scientists and researchers at John Hopkins have said is wide open to corruption? Here is an article I wrote in 2003 on the subject that was published at Common Dreams.
10. Floyd was the subject of a USA Today feature. Go HERE to meet some friends of mine.
11. I’ve kept my maiden name, Redman, throughout two marriages. 
It was Susun Weed, author and herbalist in the Wise Woman tradition, who first alerted me to the fact that names ending in “son” and “man” are patriarchal. She did this when she sent me a postcard addressed to “Colleen Redone.” Since then, I’ve taken to changing my name when I sign something I’ve written for the Museletter. I’ve used Redmantra, Redmana, Redmandala, and Redmanymorewherethatcamefrom. When I’m mad I sign C. Red.
12. This is what Susun Weed, says about the numbers 12 and 13. “Twelve is the number of established order. Twelve is easily divided and ordered into halves and quarters and thirds, easily categorized and labeled and defined. One step beyond twelve is thirteen, the wild card, the unique number, the indivisible prime. Thirteen is the number of change.”
13. I have a new answering machine message. It says: Speak in rhyme if you’re so inclined. Leave a clue if you do. This could work for blog comments too.
Thursday headquarters is here. My other 13’s are here. View more 13 Thursday’s here.
November 30th, 2006 9:22 am
The livliness inside of you
Reminds me of the color blue
November 30th, 2006 9:24 am
Hi! My 13 are up after a looong hiatus. Hehe.
2 speeding tickets in a day? Oh man, that sucks. Glad she got out of the one on a technicality. 🙂
November 30th, 2006 9:25 am
will you write a catchy answering machine message for me? I used to have cool ones when I was younger, but now I have to be all “professional” for when job places callme.
November 30th, 2006 9:27 am
Shirley Temples are yummy.
Glad your day wasn’t bummy!
Have a great Thursday!
November 30th, 2006 9:28 am
Hey, great post. I loved this part: I’ve used Redmantra, Redmana, Redmandala, Redsanta, and more. When I’m mad I sign C. Red.
I think 12 is a crummy number, perhaps because I don’t have much love for established order :-). I have a fixation on prime numbers, and I had my 13th birthday on a Friday the 13th. TMI?
I got to your blog via Musings of a Middle-Aged Woman and I got to her via Julie Unplugged.
November 30th, 2006 9:37 am
Juniper is 50? She looks amazing.
And, your niece is so cute. I love this age. Even if we are going to go through some bumpy times. My son got in trouble yesterday for the first time!
November 30th, 2006 9:37 am
Collyreddog,
I have mine posted too!
My daughter looks precious in that picture. So did you order a Shirley Temple or just try hers? Thanks for taking her out! She had a great time (she just now told me this last night… too busy to talk about it anyother day – having a 13 is fun)
November 30th, 2006 9:54 am
After our Shirley Temples (I sipped on hers but then the waitress brought a second one loaded with cherries) we went to Targets, which is when I snapped the 13. We also went to the thrift shop. Did the turntable she bought work??
November 30th, 2006 10:03 am
Yep it worked but it needs speakers hooked to it. I would imagine Kev will do that for her this weekend. Did you see my album collection?
November 30th, 2006 10:07 am
I was as you may know, here earlier today
But I am back again – but with not much to say
I myself don’t do the grand Thursday Thirteen
But I do like yours – they are usually supreme
Can’t stay too long, got to get back over to Terri’s
I’m learning to slow down – who cares that size varies
So have a great Thursday and I sure hope I do too
There’s cold and snow coming with a low of twenty-two
November 30th, 2006 10:25 am
Juniper sounds like me.
And I’d say your husband is definately secure in his job.
I hadn’t realized you used your maiden name. I really almost kept mine. I debated and debated but I changed. At 39 I really didn’t want to lose Heath but I make sure I use it along with Clark.
Your great niece is beautiful….you have a lot going on in this 13 post…I can’t remember all of my comments I thought on the way through!
November 30th, 2006 10:48 am
what is a shirly temple?
i loved both the danish traffic (though i wish they got some beefcake on the streets too!) and the peach you directed me to!
great 13 as always.
November 30th, 2006 10:48 am
I’m back. I fixed the Title link on my site.
In answer to your questions.
He is a Fudge Packer Col (your too funny)
#3 was police car drove through wet cement.
Luv ya
November 30th, 2006 11:27 am
Shirley Temple is the pink drink in the photo, a non-alcoholic cocktail made with gingerale and grenadine syrup with cocktail cherries floating on the top! Try one next time your in the states, Keda. Maybe they have them in England? I added a reference on the front page in case others were confused.
November 30th, 2006 12:05 pm
Eschewing patriarchal names
make it easier to refrain
from gender. To retrain,
the practice of name
but remain traceable
chase-able at the same
time is a challenge you’re
up for Ms. C Red.
November 30th, 2006 12:56 pm
A frameable frame of mind in rhyme! You go, Pearl!
November 30th, 2006 1:19 pm
lol, I love #2! Your pictures are really nice too!!
Happy TT 🙂
November 30th, 2006 2:17 pm
C. Red, ROFLMAO! I love it!
November 30th, 2006 2:34 pm
As always but even more so today…A VERY VERY Rich TT, Colleen….
I’m not sure it is a good thing for Floyd to be featured in USA today…There may be a HUGE influx of people and then you all will need one or two more stoplights! (lol)
I had seen the Denmark news on Terri’s Blog….Very Funny….
What else? Oh, yes…I think Joe’s profession is pretty much assured for a very long time….
Always a pleasure Colleen….and btw: My Almond Butter arrived yesterday….and it is YUMMY!
November 30th, 2006 2:35 pm
I wish I could rhyme
but I guess it won’t be this time
Substance abuse is insane,
just ask the Dane…
happy tt!
November 30th, 2006 3:06 pm
The pope’s next stop: Denmark, where the popemobile will be riding low, slow, and fine.~,:^)
November 30th, 2006 4:52 pm
I loved my Shirley Temples as a girl when out for dinner with the parents. They ordered them for me and my sisters as they sipped their cocktails.
I kept my maiden name by hyphenating it with the married name for all legal paperwork. I figure I should keep my identity for documents anyway.
I wish I could do a clever rhyme, but I haven’t the time. It would make me think when I’d rather pour a drink. You get the gest, I’ve done my best.
Cheers.
November 30th, 2006 4:57 pm
Great 13! I especially like the ‘gotta get back to whatever I wasn’t doing’ thing.. I do that all the time.. and my husband’s a therapist too..
November 30th, 2006 5:20 pm
A Herbalist named, “Susan Weed”
Is quite the perfect name, indeed!
Shirley Temples dressed in Pink
My very all-time favourite drink
I loved the marachino,sweet
To order this was quite a treat!
(We used to get these at The Chicken Villa Kentucky Fried Chicken)
November 30th, 2006 7:13 pm
I loved #1 — I agree, mascara + therapy = raccoon!!
December 1st, 2006 1:03 am
Are we on the same wavelength or what?
December 1st, 2006 6:41 am
Oh dear my surname ends in son…might have to change it when/if I get married after all!
December 1st, 2006 9:47 am
Well, I’ve kept my married name through a divorce and it has “man” at the end. Of course, since we never had any “support” from said “man” it seems dumb to have kept it. But… when the daughter changes hers I will change mine back to a simple one syllable type… no “man”, no “son”.
December 1st, 2006 4:10 pm
#10. The town of Floyd is at 2,500 feet rather than 3K stated in USA Today. The median income has really jumped recently, but like all rural areas it is still shockingly low relative to what a well-educated family in urban areas can earn. Imagine a family with 2 children trying to save for public college costs projected to be over $90K/student in 18 years on that income.
#11. My wife kept her last name because that is who she was for the preceding 30 years, and it is a pain to change your name on all official docs such as driver’s license, passport, credit cards, etc. Our children have kept only my last name.
And I thought all of western civilization was patriarchal. Now I wonder what we can surmise from Susan’s last name (wink)?
December 1st, 2006 10:35 pm
wow- your friend looks great at 50! i would of guessed 30 or 40! re:#1, i never wear mascara, period. i cry too much as i’m a sentimental, hormonal mess most of the time.:) and it’s such a pain to remove. re:11, i changed my middle name to my maiden name. my parents didn’t have any boys and it was my way of carrying on the family name (plus i always hated my middle name!)
December 1st, 2006 11:00 pm
I have one white eyebrow and white eyelashes on one side, which is why I wear mascara always! I wrote about it here http://looseleafnotes.com/notes/2005/10/the_art_of_makeup.html That’s cool that you kept your maiden name as a middle name to keep it alive.
December 2nd, 2006 10:32 pm
#1 made me laugh 🙂
I really liked your piece on psychic surgery. I have done some training as an energy healer, and I like to read about other people’s experiences with it.
December 5th, 2006 11:22 am
I’m playing “catch-up” today since I returned.
GREAT TT, Colleen. Can’t remember everything I wanted to say….but I agree on Joe’s job being secure. The article was great in USA Today on Floyd. Really enjoyed that and have to say since visiting there in Oct. they got it right! It’s a very special place, much like my island. Thank goodness we still have these pieces of paradise on earth.