Writings by Diane

A couple of months ago, my bonus son asked us when the mail usually arrived. My husband told him it usually comes in the early afternoon.  I found this inquiry different, since he had never shown interest in the mail delivery schedule.  He then informed he had ordered a Loot Crate. Each day, he waited patiently for the mail. When a box wasn’t delivered, he looked dejected.  I had no idea what a Loot Crate was-- it sounded like something Long John Silver from Treasure Island would speak about in low tones and a pirate accent.  Finally, his "loot" arrived and it contained a T-Shirt, figurine, and other fun items with a theme. I asked my bonus son what exactly is a Loot Crate and he directed me to their website . As I navigated through the site, I began to understand its appeal. Each month, they have a different theme, such as horror for October. When a person orders a box, they are in for a surprise when it arrives.  It’s been something I know I have n...

I woke up one morning with the tune “Misty” in my head. I was humming it as I fed my pets. The cats looked at me blankly as I crooned “I’m as helpless as a kitten up a tree.” After my concert to bored animals, I decided to look up on YouTube the professional singers of this song. I was aware of only two singers that performed “Misty”:  Johnny Mathis and Ray Stevens . I found it fascinating how Johnny Mathis could sing each high falsetto note meticulously. Though I enjoyed listening to him singing this song, it was not my favorite version of this tune. Ray Stevens’ bluegrass interpretation held that honor. I wasn’t quite sure why it was my favorite.  I did enjoy the uniqueness of the sound of his voice-- it has a yodeling quality to it. Or maybe it was the lighthearted and bouncy melody that the banjo and fiddle bring. As I scrolled through YouTube, I was very surprised to see that there were many other artists that performed this particular song.  I clicked on the v...

A few months ago, I, along with everyone else, fell in love with the movie Inside Out .  I also appreciated that one of the main story points was it is  okay to feel sad, sometimes it’s an emotion that cannot be avoided. It was nice to see a movie not sugar-coat tough emotions and show that memories can be shaded with a blend of feelings. I thought the writers were so clever to materialize emotions into characters that kids could understand. Again, I was overwhelmed by their inventiveness that there are little beings living in the main character’s brain. As I watched these colorful characters on the screen, I had a nagging reminder of a comic strip I had read growing up. It was in the British  comic book called The Beano .  Not to be confused with the natural remedy .  The Beano comic book has been going strong for over 60 years in Great Britain. When I arrived home, I looked up these characters. The cast that started me doing comparisons was The Numskulls ...

I have been very encouraged with the recent news stories about store Santas working with kids with autism.  The first story I heard was about an event that Autism Speaks manages called Caring Santa . They have a Santa that will provide the families an opportunity to have their children with autism has a picture with Santa without the fear of stares if their child has a fit to due over stimulation. When one boy didn’t want to sit on Santa’s lap, this kind hearted St Nick joined the boy on the floor and the boy’s parents were able to capture a memorable photo. The other story that really touched my heart was the boy who told Santa that he was afraid he was on the naughty list due to his autism. Again, the sage behind the Santa costume told him that he was in no danger of being kicked off of the nice list.  He told the boy the truth—his autism was not to be judged and that was just who he is.  Rightfully so, this encouragement has been shared over 500,000 times on Facebo...

In the past few weeks in the news there has been the saga of HitchBOT . It started as a social experiment to see how many people would pick up the hitchhiking portable robot and take it across the country. HitchBOT was a passenger all across Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands. The two professors and creators of HitchBOT decided to drop it off in Boston, MA and see how far it could go, its destination communicated through its screen was San Francisco, CA. Unfortunately, HitchBOT was not allowed to record the image of the Golden Gate Bridge. After two weeks, it made it to Philadelphia PA where it was torn apart and left in pieces on the street.   However, the story does not end there. A group of inventors named The Hacktory from Philadelphia saw this news story and did not want the conclusion to be that people only want to destroy things. They reached out to the Canadian inventors and offered to help repair HitchBOT.   Another item that has come about is PopeBot...

Months ago, as I was driving, I happened to noticed that Canyon Hearing Aid Center was torn down to make way for more parking for the next door convenience store. For some reason, I felt sad about this new turn of events. I should have been accustomed to this type of change of landscape.  Being from Las Vegas NV, I had seen many hotel and casino buildings disappearing off the face of the earth. For instance, I remember watching on television the implosions of the Landmark and the Sands Hotels. Years ago, I had been a guest at the Landmark , which was a fanciful building, true to its name. I also visited the Sands ’ kitchen facilities  when I was attending UNLV .  It was somber to see history be turned into dust.  At least these implosions made way for construction of larger hotels, supplying jobs and eventually more tourists.   Maybe the reason I was saddened by this destruction of Canyon Hearing Aid Center was that someone lost his livelihood. This land w...

Driving home from work, I was preoccupied with my usual thoughts—how slow traffic was moving, when would the traffic light change, what was that song that was playing on the radio? Isolated in the vehicle, I am in my own little world. As I turned onto Ten Mile, pinned on a light pole was a large cardboard sign. Written on its pink background were the words “You are beautiful.” Usually in my travels, the signs are the mundane—speed limits and street names usually clutter the scenery.  Sometimes, an advertisement will break up the monotony.  After reading this sign, I noticed that I was smiling. My thoughts lightened in my mind as they drifted to how it was a sweet idea for someone to pin this simple but truthful saying.  I also noticed that there was a website underneath the encouraging statement—so it was a clever advertisement after all! Nevertheless, these kind words struck a chord with me. How many times do we hear, “You are not good enough “or “You are too f...