Friday, March 5, 2010

Guest Blogging

My BFF Bernie sent me an email the other day, whining that she was bored and suggesting that I update my blog to give her something to read. HA! I wrote right back and suggested that she do it herself. As a result, today you get to be treated to a Guest Post from my friend from Florida, fellow fabric designer, mother of three, and the most laid back Catholic I know.... Bernie! I was a bit amused at the topic Bernie selected, she is obviously on her best behaviour in front of strangers, so I couldn't resist adding my own comments in italics.
Hi! This is Karen's friend Bernie, here for a "guest posting" because Karen's "to-do" list is longer than her arm. Longer than my arm. Longer than all of our arms put together. We've been really good friends for more than 20 years. Since she moved back to PA in 1991, ours has been a long distance friendship, only seeing each other once or twice a year. Thank God for e-mail!
We used to write REAL letters, with pens and paper and postage that took some real effort. E-mail is the only part of technology I "get". (We didn't weren't that good at real letters either, most of them were started one day and finished several weeks later and mailed several weeks after that! It was not uncommon to get a letter that included at least 2 major holidays.)
I was going to write about my experience at quilt judging. Just a few weeks ago I was a scribe for the judges at our local quilt show. To be honest, although it was educational, it was also a bit like watching grass grow..... for TEN hours. Maybe another time.
Instead I have decided to write to you about my pet peeves. Why you ask? Because someone cut me off this morning while they were driving and texting, completely oblivious to the fact that they almost caused an accident. That drives me crazy. So, because of that, I am in kind of a mood, and Karen has given me an audience. (Up until now, Karen was also unaware that Bernie HAD any real Pet Peeves!)
A few of my Pet Peeves in no particular order.
  • The aforementioned texting or cell phone use while driving (I don't get the whole texting phenomena anyway, if you need to tell me something, call me.. but not while driving)
  • Garish lighting in department store fitting rooms... wouldn't more flattering lighting sell more clothes? (I can attest to Bernies complete dread of clothes shopping, she has emailed me volumes on the subject and that was before she was slated to be Mother-of-the-Bride this summer).
  • People who use "supposably" which isn't even a word, instead of "supposedly". Same goes for "irregardless" which should be "regardless" (.... wait a minute, I think I do that...)
  • General rudeness, texting (there it is again) or checking a Blackberry in the middle of a conversation or talking out loud in church or the library???
  • Running out of bobbin thread with 6" left to sew. That's a killer. (see why we are friends!)

There are more, but I didn't want you to think of me as a complainer, I'm pretty easy going. (That may be the understatement of the century! Bernie is the definition of "easy going". She has been known to eat Thanksgiving dinner on paper plates. Her youngest son wore his "He-Man" pjs to school because he wanted to and her recent house guests came to visit in December and didn't leave until the end of FEBRUARY!)

Surely you have some Pet Peeves of your own... here's your chance to tell the world, or at least those reading this blog, by leaving a comment. I know I feel better, so will you.

Bernie.

6 comments:

PG Wagner said...

oooh, ohhhh....wait!! I wanna comment on one of Bernie's peeves..."irregardless" IS a word! You can look it up in the dictionary...granted its usage is considered casual but still, it's there! If Websters says it's a word then using it is fair game! :-)

Anonymous said...

Bernie here again. In my haste to get this post together I lumped "supposably" and "irregardless" together. It is the USE of "irregardless" that is like nails on a chalkboard to me. PG Wagner is quite right, it IS a word, however, my dictionary (and my 4th grade English teacher, who happened to be a yardstick wielding nun) defines it as "adj. adv., a commonly used, but improper,substandard, humorous(?), redundant form of regardless". Nails on a chalkboard. So yes, it IS a word, but when you use it, I'd like you to envision a stern, humorless, elderly teacher, ready to "thwack" (is that a word?) you with the aforementioned yardstick across the shins...... I also feel compelled to tell you, I had some wonderful, loving, funny, nuns in Catholic school.

Karen said...

Woa! I expected to log on and see a whole list of pet peeves. I guess now that the sun is out up north the natives don't want to risk jinxing it by saying something negative.
However, after sewing all day yesterday I have to say that if running out of bobbin thread a few inches before finishing a seam is bad, then running COMPLETELY out of thread a mere 1 1/2 inch before finishing the top stitching on a project is absolutely infuriating!

Barb Johnson said...

I didn't run into the yardstick-yielding nun until 8th grade algebra! And she only had a pointer, not a yardstick. All the other nuns I had were great! Any way, back to the topic, pet peeves. My biggest pet peeve is getting to an intersection with the traffic light that is green for me, but the school crossing guard steps out anyway with the teenagers who aren't even LOOKING to see if anything is coming. Don't get me wrong, I understand that crossing guards are important. But shouldn't they be teaching the kids to look both ways before crossing the street, just in case? Instead, they just assume that everyone will stop for them! What are they going to do when they go out into the real world and the crossing guard isn't there?

Anonymous said...

Ugh. Irregardless. Ugh. Supposably. Throw those people in with the ones that say "LackSadaisical" rather than "lackadaisical" and you've hit the most annoying trifecta ever. A former employer used to use two of the three... in meetings... with colleagues... and clients. Did I dare correct him? Heck no! I just snickered to myself and let him run on like an idiot. My circle of friends and I have made up a name for the people who use these words as if they are correct. They are called "Wordatrists." It's a new name for supposedly educated people who commonly misuse the English language. Co-Worker: "Did you hear Bill's presentation on the budget? He says we'll make it irregardless of our current economic state." Me: "Yeah, that Bill is a real Wordatrist"
My other pet peeve is people who think it's cute to push their tiny dogs around in strollers. Barf.

Anonymous said...

Bernie again....I promise, this is my last comment on the subject. If you havent done so already, please go to http://freerice.com Its a great website that donates free rice to the hungry. There are simple tests on different subjects. For every correct answer, they donate 5 grains of rice. You test your knowledge, and learn something at the same time. The subjects include: vocabulary, grammar, geography (my worst subject), world capitals, famous paintings, and foreign languages. Its addictive. Today I donated over 2000 grains of rice. Guess what came up in the grammar section??? Two choices: which is correct?
Regardless of the consequences, we should do it. OR
Irregardless of the consequences, we should do it. You already know the correct answer! Your welcome....just doing my very small part to feed the hungry.